Aftermath
by iheartveronicamars
Summary: Logan runs into Veronica at a party. He blames her for his last breakup with Lilly, but ends up helping her death with the aftermath of a traumatic event. **This story deals with some sensitive/intense topics. If you don't like what you read in the first chapter then I suggest you not read any further chapters I post.**
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I'd appreciate feedback on this story. I have about nine chapters written so far and would love input to get me motivate to keep going with it!

**Chapter 1**

The pain she felt was almost unbearable. She struggled to get up from the bed. She was a mess and every move she made caused her to ache even more.

She somehow managed to get dressed and picked up her shoes. She slowly moved to the door and opened it. She was thankful no one was in the hallway as she made her way to the stairs. She wanted to get out of that house as quickly as possible.

She'd only moved a short way when she heard a door open behind her. She froze.

"Well well well," she heard Logan say, "have a little fun up here Ronnie?"

She heard Logan laugh and she choked back the tears that had started to fall. She couldn't face him, not after what had happened. She started to walk away.

"This is new," Logan said, "Veronica Mars not saying a word. Ashamed of what you did?"

Veronica couldn't take it. She broke down. The tears started falling and she collapsed to the ground.

"Geez Veronica, you don't need to be so melodramatic about being caught after having sex," Logan said moving closer to her.

She wanted to say something. To make him go away. She didn't want him to see her like this, especially after the way he'd been treating her lately.

He moved closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," she cried out, not turning to look at him.

"What the hell," Logan said moving around to be in front of her.

He looked down at her. She was curled into a ball with her head down and her hair falling all around her.

He wanted to leave her there. He shouldn't care that she was crying, but something inside him told him not to walk away. He squatted in front of her and moved to push her hair so he could see his face.

"Oh my god," he said when he finally saw her, "what the hell happened to you!"

Veronica finally looked up and steeled herself. "What do you think happened!" she yelled at him.

She moved to get up. She needed to get away from him. But the pain she felt made her move too slowly.

"What happened?" Logan asked again in a choked whisper. Seeing Veronica like that broke his heart, a heart that he thought shouldn't have any feeling for her but did.

"I was raped," she told him and broke down crying harder than before.

She was surprised when he pulled her into his arms. "I'm taking you to the hospital," he said.

She didn't have the strength to fight with him and quite frankly it was nice to have someone carry her, it hurt a hell of a lot less than walking did at that point.

* * *

The ride to the hospital was filled with relative silence. The only sounds were the moans and groans coming from Veronica.

Logan had tried to get her to talk to him about what had happened but she wouldn't say anything. He wondered who had done all that damage to her. Whoever it was, Logan was going to make damn sure he paid.

Logan pulled into a parking spot near the ER entrance and moved to get Veronica out of the car. When he walked through the doors the nurse working at the desk looked up. As soon as she saw Veronica in his arms she picked up the phone and paged a doctor to one of the exam rooms.

She ushered Logan into one of the rooms and instructed him to lay Veronica on the bed.

"I have some forms that are going to need to be filled out," the nurse told Logan, "but we'll just worry about getting her settled in first."

Logan was relieved. He had no clue what would be required to fill out the forms but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do it.

"What's her name?" the nurse asked, wanting to get the basic information out of the way before the doctor got there.

"Veronica Mars," Logan told her.

"Do you know her date of birth?" she asked.

"September 7th 1988," he said.

"Is it safe to assume her dad is Keith Mars?" the nurse asked.

"Yeah," Logan responded.

"I'll go notify him that she's been brought in," she said, "I'm gonna go get her into the system and come back with a hospital bracelet for her."

"Do you mind if I call her dad instead?" Logan asked. "I just think he'd take it better if I was the one to tell him," Logan added.

"Not at all," she said.

She left to go get Veronica into the system and Logan pulled out his cell phone to call the Sheriff's Department. He wasn't sure how Veronica's dad would take the news, but he thought it would be better to hear it from him than the nurse.

Logan was vague when he talked to the receptionist at the sheriff's station. Keith Mars was out on a call, but she told Logan she'd let him know about Veronica. He had a feeling her dad was going to be fuming once he found out what happened at Shelly's party.

After he got off the phone with the sheriff's department he called Lilly. He knew Veronica had gone to the party with her and wondered if Lilly even realized she wasn't there any more. He had a feeling Lilly wouldn't be too happy to be getting a call from him, but he hoped she answered.

"What do you want Logan?" Lilly asked. He could hear the loud music playing in the background.

"You need to get to Neptune Memorial now," Logan told her.

"And why do I need to do that?" she asked, getting more annoyed with him.

"Because I just helped your best friend get admitted," he told her.

"Veronica..." Lilly whispered.

"Yeah," Logan said, "I suggest you haul ass to get here before her dad does."

"What happened?" Lilly asked. Logan could tell she was making her way through the party.

"I'll explain everything when you get here," he told her, "just hurry."

He told her where they were and then hung up. He moved over to the side of the bed. Veronica looked so fragile laying there.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," he said reaching for her hand, tears starting to form in his eyes. He may have been upset with her for telling Lilly about his kiss with Yolanda, but he'd never wish this on anyone.

A few seconds later the nurse came back with Veronica's hospital ID bracelet and put it on her.

"Her dad wasn't at the station," Logan told the nurse, "but the receptionist promised to notify him that Veronica was here."

"Good," the nurse said, "we're going to need her insurance information for the records."

Just then a doctor entered the room.

"What happened?" she asked Logan.

"She was raped," he told her, trying to stop the tears, "I found her after it had happened."

"Go get a rape kit," the doctor instructed the nurse, "and notify the sheriff's department to send someone over."

The nurse left and the doctor started writing something on Veronica's chart.

"Do you know how long ago it happened?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Logan told her, "I found her trying to make her way out of a party we were at about thirty minutes ago. She told me she'd been raped and I rushed her over here."

The doctor wrote something else on her chart and looked up at him. "You did the right thing bringing her here as soon as possible," she said.

The nurse came back with the kit and told the doctor they were sending a deputy over.

"Veronica," the doctor said, moving to stand next to the bed, "I'm Dr. Phillips. Your friend said that you were raped tonight."

Veronica opened her eyes and looked at the doctor. Logan didn't even know she was awake. He thought she'd fallen asleep.

"Is that what happened?" the doctor asked.

Veronica nodded her head yes and then broke down. She curled herself into a ball and cried out, "he raped me..."

Logan's heart dropped. He hated seeing her like this, so fragile and broken.

"Veronica," the doctor said, "I had a rape kit brought in. We're going to have to take your clothes and get you into a hospital gown so I can examine you."

Just then the door opened again. Logan looked up and saw Lilly standing there.

"Oh my God," she said moving into the room and closing the door behind her, "what happened to her?"

"Someone raped her at the party," Logan told her.

Logan moved out of the way as Lilly rushed over to Veronica's side, taking hold of the hand Logan had been holding.

"Veronica," Lilly said, "I'm so sorry this happened. I shouldn't have forced you to go to the party. This is my fault!"

Lilly was crying hysterically at that point.

"Would you two mind going to the waiting room so I can start the rape kit," the doctor said.

Logan moved toward the door. Lilly let go of Veronica's hand to follow Logan.

"Lilly," Veronica moaned out, "don't go!"

"You can stay," the doctor said, "but you need to stay out of the way."

"I'll go wait for her dad," Logan said and left the room.

* * *

It took a couple hours to get everything for the rape kit. Veronica had been severely injured during the incident. In addition to a cut on her lip, there was bruising on her neck and ribs, and she had some tearing inside her vagina.

Lilly felt horrible for her best friend. Being raped was not the way to lose your virginity.

The doctor was having the semen sample and blood samples she gathered sent to the lab to be analyzed. Lilly had seen the doctor put some pubic hair in a vial to be sent off for testing too. She had drawn blood to run tests for STDs and pregnancy.

Whoever had done this was stupid and was going to pay!

"I'm gonna go get the deputy," the doctor told them after she'd sent a nurse off with the rape kit.

"My dad," Veronica cried out.

"Do you want me to go get him?" Lilly asked.

"No!" Veronica practically yelled. "I don't want him to see me like this," she said, crying yet again.

She was embarrassed and didn't want her father to see her just then.

"I'll go wait with him and Logan while you talk to whichever deputy they sent over," Lilly said.

"Thank you Lilly," Veronica said through the tears.

"It's the least I can do," Lilly said and then left.

* * *

Veronica had been happy that Inga had sent Deputy Sacks. He was easier to talk to than Lamb.

After she told him everything she remembered about what happened he left to go get her dad. She was finally ready to see him.

A minute later the door opened and her dad rushed to her.

"Oh sweetie," he said pulling her into his arms.

Veronica moaned. It hurt to move because of the bruising on her ribs.

"I'm so sorry," her dad said letting go of her. She wasn't sure if he was sorry for making her hurt just then or for the rape happening.

"Logan told me he found you and brought you here," her dad said.

"Yeah," she said, not wanting to elaborate.

"I know you told Sacks who did this," her dad said, "and if I wanted I could check his notes to find out. But I'd rather hear it from you."

Veronica knew he'd find out one way or another. It would be best for her to just tell him and get it over with.

"It was Duncan," Veronica whispered out, "he wasn't himself..."

"Oh God Veronica," he said the astonishment evident in his voice. He collapsed on the stool next to her bed.

"He was being so sweet to me," Veronica told him, "I thought he wanted to get back together and then something changed. He started getting violent and I tried to leave the room..."

"Veronica you don't have to tell me everything," her dad said. He didn't need to know all the details of what had happened to his only daughter.

"Is Logan still here?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah, he's in the waiting room with Lilly," he told her.

"Can you send him in please?" Veronica asked.

"Sure sweetie," he said, "I'm gonna head back to the station and see what's going on with the case. You might want to tell Lilly about Duncan before she finds out about him being brought in from her parents."

"Can you go get both of them for me then," she said.

"Sure. I love you Veronica," her dad said leaning down to kiss her before leaving.

* * *

Lilly and Logan came back to her room a couple minutes later.

"Your dad asked us to stay with you since he had to go back to the station," Logan told her.

"I kind of figured he would," Veronica said.

Lilly moved to sit on the stool Keith had vacated and reached for Veronica's hand.

"Logan," Veronica said, still looking at him, "thank you, you know, for bringing me here."

"You're welcome," he said. "You know, as soon as I saw you I felt bad for what I'd said," he added, "and if I could take it all back I would."

"It's fine Logan," Veronica said, "you had no idea what had happened when you said it."

Logan just stayed standing at the foot of her bed.

"You could come sit," Veronica said to Logan, motioning to the chair on the side of the bed opposite Lilly.

"There's something you two should know," Veronica said as Logan moved to finally sit down.

"You don't have to talk about what happened," Lilly said.

"Yes I do," Veronica said, tears forming in her eyes once again. "I want you to hear it from me," Veronica said, "not your parents or the media."

"What are you talking about?" Lilly asked, completely confused at the moment.

"It was Duncan," Veronica managed to get out through her tears.

Lilly dropped Veronica's hand and brought it to her mouth. She couldn't believe Duncan had done this to Veronica.

"They sent a deputy to the party to bring him in," Veronica told them.

"Holy hell," Logan said.

"If you want to go down to the station to be with your family Lil I'll understand," Veronica said, calming herself down.

"I'll stay," Logan said.

"I can't believe Donut would do this," Lilly said, moving to get up.

"He wasn't himself Lil," Veronica said, "well he was at first, but something changed."

"Oh my God," Lilly said, realizing what had happened.

"What is it Lilly?" Veronica asked.

"I've gotta go," she said, getting up and rushing from the room.

"Any idea what that was about?" Veronica asked Logan.

"None," he said.

A nurse came in the room a few seconds later. "I've got some pain medicine for you," she said walking over to the IV that had been started for Veronica, "I also have a sedative for you. Dr. Phillips wants you to rest. Your body's been through a lot and you need time to let it recover."

Veronica was out a few minutes later and Logan just sat there looking at her. He couldn't believe his best friend had done what he had to Veronica, but he also didn't think Veronica was lying. She had obviously been completely aware during the rape and he was sure that made it much worse for her. He couldn't imagine having that done to you.

Logan had called his parents when he'd first gone to the waiting room. He'd told them where he was and why. He figured he should call them again and let them know he wouldn't be coming home. They'd understand.

He left Veronica's room and went in search of the cafeteria for coffee. He asked a nurse at the desk for directions and told her to page him if anything changed with Veronica.

He got a cup of coffee and sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria. He pulled out his cell phone and called his house.

His mom answered after a couple rings. He told her he was staying at the hospital that night and then broke down.

"Duncan was the one who raped her," he told his mom through tears, "I can't believe he did that to her."

"Oh sweetie," Lynn said. "Do you want me to come over there so we can talk?"

"No," Logan said, "I think I'm gonna go back to Veronica's room and try to get some sleep while she's knocked out."

"Call me tomorrow morning and let me know how Veronica's doing," she said before they hung up.

Logan went back to Veronica's room and just sat there staring at her for the longest time. He eventually fell asleep in the chair with his head on the bed right next to Veronica's hand, which he had in his.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I am so thankful for all the comments I got for the first chapter! I came up with this idea because I always felt that Veronica's rape was not given the attention it should've been on the show. BeWitchingRedhead36 - I totally agree about Keith knowing and being able to help her, the way Lamb didn't on the show. Astranti - I also found it strange that Veronica never went to the hospital on the show. She should've gone there when she left Shelly's house instead of going to the sheriff's office. BeWitchingRedhead36 & brankel1 - Logan being there for Veronica is a major part of this story :)

**Chapter 2**

Veronica woke up the next day and saw that Logan was still there. He was sleeping, uncomfortably it seemed, in the chair next to her bed.

"Logan," she said quietly to wake him up.

"Hmmm," Logan moaned out, slowly waking up.

He moved his head to the side and saw Veronica staring down at him.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said lifting his head from the bed.

"It's fine Logan," she said, "you just look really uncomfortable in that chair."

Logan moved to check the clock to see what time it was. He thought Veronica's dad would have come back to the hospital by now, unless he'd stopped by while they'd been sleeping.

"How'd you sleep?" Logan asked, finally sitting up.

"A lot better than you," she joked.

Logan could tell she was feeling better since she was joking with him.

"You seem like you're a lot better," Logan said, "I'm gonna go let the nurse at the desk know you're awake."

"Thanks," Veronica said as Logan got up to leave the room.

He came back a minute later with a nurse.

"How are you feeling this morning Veronica?" she asked.

"Better than last night," she said, "but I think that's probably due to the pain medicine I've been getting."

The nurse moved to check her vital signs and wrote something on her chart. "I'm going to go get your doctor to come check you out," she said as she put her chart back.

"Any idea when I might be released?" Veronica asked. She didn't want to be in the hospital longer than was absolutely necessary.

"I'm sure the doctor will let you know after she checks you out," she said and then left.

After the nurse left Veronica moved to get off the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Logan asked, standing up to stop her.

"I need to pee," she told him.

"Oh," he said, she could see his face turning a nice shade of red upon hearing those words.

"Think you could help me make it over there?" Veronica asked. She was still in some pain and it hurt to move too much. Plus she had to worry about the IV that was still attached to her hand.

"Yeah," Logan said moving around the bed to help her.

The doctor came in while Veronica was in the bathroom. When Veronica came out the she helped her make her way back to the bed. Once she got settled the doctor asked Logan to leave so she could examine Veronica.

Logan got up to leave, but Veronica grabbed his hand. "Please don't go," she cried. If Lilly had been there she probably would've let Logan go. But Lilly hadn't come back since Veronica had told her and Logan what had happened.

"Veronica," Dr. Phillips said, "you know I'm going to have to check your chest and the tearing..."

"I know," Veronica replied.

Logan could tell that she didn't want to be left alone and he couldn't really blame her. He just wished that Lilly had come back.

"I won't look," Logan said, moving to sit back down.

Veronica smiled at him.

"Ok," Dr. Phillips said, moving to sit on a stool. "Did it hurt to go to the bathroom Veronica?"

"Yeah," she said being honest.

"Are you still bleeding?" she asked next.

"Yeah," Veronica told her.

"I'm gonna check and see if the tears are starting to heal yet," she told her, moving the stool to the foot of the bed.

Logan reached for Veronica's hand and looked up at her, keeping his eyes on her face while the doctor checked on whatever had happened to Veronica's vagina during the rape.

Her grip tightened on Logan's hand a few seconds later and he guessed that whatever the doctor had been checking hurt her. He could see the tears rolling down her cheeks and moved closer to the bed. He used the hand that wasn't holding hers to stroke her face and tell her that he was so sorry she was in pain.

"I'll be here for you as long as you want me to be," he told her. It was the truth. He knew she didn't want to be left alone and he didn't want to leave her side either.

"The tears are healing Veronica," she said, "so the bleeding should stop either later today or early tomorrow."

She got up from her stool and moved to stand next to the bed. "I'm gonna need to move your hospital gown to check the bruising on your ribs," she said.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Logan said, releasing Veronica's hand. He knew she didn't want him to leave but he figured she wouldn't want him to see her so exposed. She didn't try and stop him that time, so he knew he was right.

Dr. Phillips moved her gown and checked the soreness of the bruises. They were still very painful and intensifying in color.

She finished examining Veronica and moved to write something on her chart.

"Logan you can come out now," Veronica said.

Logan came out and resumed his position next to her bed.

"When can I go home?" Veronica asked.

"I'll have to get in touch with your father before I make a decision," she told her, "you're gonna be sore for a while and you'll need to stay in bed. You need someone home to be able to keep an eye on you and I'm not sure your dad will be able to be there for you while the investigation is going on."

"She can come stay at my house," Logan said, "I'm sure my parents won't mind and I think the sheriff would feel better with her being there where the press can't get to her."

Veronica hadn't thought much about the press, but considering who had raped her it was probably going to be in the news in a major way.

"I'll call her dad and see what he says and then we'll go from there," Dr. Phillips said.

* * *

Dr. Phillips had talked to Veronica's dad. He'd come to the hospital to check on her during his lunch break. Logan had explained his idea and Keith agreed with him. He had Logan call his parents and ask if it was ok before he decided to let her be released into the Echolls care when the doctor decided to release her.

Dr. Phillips decided to release Veronica later that afternoon after informing her that she'd gotten the lab results back. "You don't have any STDs," she told her, "but the pregnancy test was inconclusive. I want you to come back in a week so we can retest you."

Veronica had already known that the STD tests would be negative. Duncan hadn't had sex with anyone before the rape. She was scared about the pregnancy test though. She didn't want to be pregnant and not knowing if she was or wasn't was going to eat at her until she knew for sure.

Logan's parents had sent someone to get Logan's SUV and had arrived in a limo to pick up Logan and Veronica.

A nurse had helped Veronica change out of her hospital gown into a dress that her father had brought to the hospital. It was a struggle to change, but Veronica couldn't wait to get out of there.

There wasn't any press when they were leaving so Veronica figured the media hadn't caught wind of the story yet.

Keith had escorted them out and told them he would be by later to drop off more of Veronica's belongings.

"We'll take good care of her," Lynn promised him.

* * *

When they got to the house Logan carried Veronica upstairs and got her settled in the guest room next to his.

"You want something to eat?" he asked. He was just standing there, unsure of what to do next.

"I could definitely eat something," she said, "the stuff they tried to pass off as food at the hospital really wasn't all that great."

"Chinese?" Logan asked. He knew she liked it and wanted to get something to make her feel better.

"Egg rolls sound like a really good idea," she said.

"I'll go downstairs and get my mom to call in an order for all of us," he said.

"Will you come back in here after you talk to her?" Veronica asked. Even though she was out of the hospital and in the safety of the Echolls home, she still didn't want to be alone.

"Yeah," he said, "do you want me to call Lilly and see if she wants to come hang out with you for a while?"

"I have a feeling she's still dealing with her family's issues," she said.

"Yeah, but she is your best friend," Logan pointed out.

"And Duncan is her brother," Veronica stated.

"I'm gonna call her anyway," Logan said, "even if she can't or doesn't want to come over, I'm going to give her the option."

Logan left and Veronica found herself alone with her thoughts. She wished that she hadn't been conscious when Duncan had raped her. If she'd been out of it she wouldn't keep flashing back to what happened.

For the first time since it happened she was letting her emotions overtake her. She curled into a ball and broke down crying. That's how Logan found her when he came back.

"Lilly's on her way," Logan said.

Veronica hadn't heard him come in and his voice startled her.

"I'm sorry," he said, realizing that she didn't know he was there, "I can leave if you want."

"Please don't," Veronica said through her tears. She wished her dad didn't have to work the case. She wanted to be home curled up in her bed with her dad there to hold her while she cried.

"Logan," Veronica said tentatively, "will you hold me?"

Logan hesitated. He would've thought that Veronica wouldn't want a guy to touch her for a long after what had happened. He looked in her eyes and saw that it was what she wanted, so he made his way over to the bed and climbed on next to her. He gently slipped his arm around her and pulled her to lay against his chest.

Veronica had stopped crying and Logan thought she'd fallen asleep. He heard the doorbell ring and tried to slip off the bed without waking her.

"Don't go," she said as soon as he moved.

"I thought you were asleep," he said.

"I don't know how I'm going to sleep ever again," Veronica told him, "I can't stop thinking about what happened. It's running on a loop in my head."

Just then the door opened and Lilly came bursting in.

"Your mom let me in," Lilly said to Logan.

"I'll go downstairs and wait for the Chinese," Logan said, slipping out from behind Veronica and off the bed.

Lilly waited until Logan was gone before moving to lay next to Veronica.

"You two looked pretty cozy," Lilly said, smiling to herself.

"It wasn't like that Lilly," Veronica said, "he just held me while I cried."

"After what Donut did to you I can't believe you'd want a guy to even touch you," Lilly said, being honest, "I can't even imagine what's going through your head."

Veronica hesitated after Lilly brought up Duncan. She wanted to ask what had happened with him, but she didn't know how to bring it up.

"It actually felt nice to be in Logan's arms," Veronica confessed.

"Logan does have nice strong arms," Lilly said, smiling at Veronica.

Veronica blushed at that and Lilly took notice. She sat up on the bed and looked at Veronica.

"Oh my god," Lilly said, "you're blushing!"

Veronica rolled onto her side so that she wasn't facing Lilly anymore. It was bad enough to be embarrassed because she'd been raped, but to add Lilly thinking she liked Logan, regardless of whether it was true or not, to it just made her want to crawl in a hole and die.

Lilly hated that Veronica had turned away from her. She and Logan were done. They'd broken up for the last time and Lilly was actually all for Veronica and Logan hooking up.

"It's ok to like being in his arms," Lilly said, trying to make Veronica feel better, "you know Logan's always had a thing for you. I think he just settled for me because Duncan put the moves on you first."

It was probably the truth, although Lilly never asked Logan about it.

"Logan loved you Lil," Veronica said, rolling over to face her again.

"I know," she said, "but I don't think it's the same kind of love he feels for you. He may have acted like an ass to you about telling me about the kiss, but it's only because he hates that you saw him doing that to me. If he'd been happy in our relationship neither of us would've cheated."

Veronica couldn't believe what Lilly was saying. It was too much to take in. It sounded like Lilly was giving her blessing for Veronica to be with Logan.

The conversation was put on hold when Logan came in with a tray full of food and drinks.

Lilly found the remote for the TV and found a movie for them to watch while they ate. She figured it would be awkward between them after what she'd told Veronica while Logan was gone.

* * *

Things had felt awkward after Lilly left, so Logan got Veronica her medicines and let her go to sleep. He laid awake in his room for the longest time wondering what had happened between Veronica and Lilly that had made her close herself off.

He couldn't get his brain to shut off, so he went to take a shower. While he was in there thoughts started going through his head of Veronica. He'd always liked her. He even thought about asking her out, but Duncan beat him to it. There were even a few times when he was having sex with Lilly that he pictured she was really Veronica.

Thinking back on those days had him getting hard. He hoped that Veronica was sound asleep or that if she wasn't the sound of the shower would be enough to drown out his moans as he reached down to take his cock in hand.

Somewhere deep down he knew it was wrong to be having those thoughts of Veronica after what had happened to her, but he couldn't help where his brain went or how it affected him.

It didn't take long for him to get to the breaking point. He moaned out her name as he came and prayed to God that she hadn't heard it.

Veronica tossed and turned in her sleep and it hurt. She woke up several times during the night and heard Logan taking a shower at one point. She hadn't been able to take a shower when she was in the hospital and hadn't wanted to move from the bed once Logan got her settled, other than to pee.

She decided that since she didn't seem to be getting much sleep she'd take a shower. She hoped it would wash away the evidence of the rape and make her feel less tainted.

She eased herself off the bed and made her way to the bathroom. She slowly took off the dress she was wearing and then her underwear. There was blood on the pad she'd had but it wasn't nearly as much as had been on the one that morning.

She grabbed a towel and washcloth from the closet. She set the towel on the counter and kept the washcloth in her hand. She turned on the shower and waited for it to heat up some before slowly stepping in.

The hot water on her skin felt wonderful. She couldn't wait to wash the blood and everything else she could get off of her body. She soaped up the washcloth and began to wash herself. She started with her arms and worked her way down. The bruising on her ribs made it hurt to bend, but she was determined to wash away all the blood and anything else that was down there.

When she saw how much blood she'd cleaned off she broke down again. She wasn't sure where all the tears were coming from. It seemed like her tear ducts should be dried out by now, but apparently they weren't. She collapsed to the floor of the shower. She leaned her head against the wall and just cried.

Logan had heard her turn on the shower. He was surprised she'd waited that long to take one. He was waiting for her to get out so he could go check on her.

He looked over at the clock and realized she'd been in there for nearly thirty minutes. There was no way it took that long in the shower. He was beginning to worry about her. The hot water had probably run out and he wondered why she was still in there.

Curiosity got the better of him and he made his way to her room. When he got to the door he could hear the shower, so he let himself in. He walked over to the door and was getting ready to knock when he heard her crying again.

"Veronica," Logan said, hoping he was loud enough that she would hear him.

When he didn't get a response he opened the door a few inches and called her name again.

"Logan," she somehow managed to get out through the tears and chattering teeth.

"Veronica you need to turn off the water," he said, not wanting to go in and scare her, "I can hear your teeth chattering."

"I can't," she cried out.

He really didn't want to go in there but it seemed like Veronica wasn't giving him much of a choice. The water needed to be turned off and she needed to get out of there and warm up. He didn't want to have to take her back to the hospital because she had hypothermia.

"I'm coming in," Logan said, giving her time to tell him no and turn the water off herself.

When he didn't get a response he opened the door further and stepped in. He saw her curled up in a ball on the floor of the shower and rushed over to turn the water off.

As soon as the water was off he turned around. He didn't think she'd want him to see her like that, naked and crying on the floor of the shower. He saw the towel she'd taken out and moved to bring to the shower.

"Veronica," Logan said yet again and still got no response.

He realized she wasn't going to move. She was probably in shock. He had to get her out of there, get her dry and in bed.

He went to the closet, pulled out some more towels and went and laid them out on the bed. Veronica hadn't moved. She was just sitting there shaking.

"Veronica I'm going to have to get you out of there if you don't do it yourself," he said.

She still didn't move. He hesitated for a minute and then leaned in to scoop her up into his arms. He carried her to the bed and laid her down. Seeing the bruising on her made him feel even worse for her, it was one thing to know what had happened but it was another to actually see the aftermath of the tragedy.

He quickly dried her off and wrapped a towel around her. He could feel that she was freezing and could see that her teeth were still chattering.

He pulled the comforter up over her and stood there to see if helped her warm up. He realized it wasn't really doing much and made the decision to get in bed with her. Body heat was the fastest way to warm someone up.

He got under the covers with her and pulled her into his arms. He ran his hands up and down her arms to try and warm her up.

A few minutes later he could tell that she was slightly warmer and had fallen asleep. He was going to leave, but she really wasn't back to a normal body temperature. He decided to stay and ended up falling asleep with her in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Astranti - Yeah, having Logan and Lilly be there for her is a major help and you'll see more of them in this chapter. As for Lianne, she's out of the picture. BeWitchingRedhead36 - You'll understand more why Lilly is siding with her friend in this chapter. coastiewife465 - What happens in the next few chapters will definitely be interesting! JeniLyn2000 - Having Logan be there for Veronica is gonna create a special bond. He's helping her deal with the most traumatic thing in her life. They won't be jumping into a sexual relationship soon, but they are going to end up being closer... Nichole - I'm glad you're looking forward to more :)

**Chapter 3**

The next morning was awkward to say the least. Veronica had woken up first and couldn't remember how she'd ended up back in the bed. The last thing she remembered was being in the shower. Then she moved and saw Logan curled up behind her on the bed.

She could see that he wasn't wearing a shirt and wondered if he was naked under the covers. She moved her arms and slipped them under the covers to pull the towel she was laying on around her body.

"Logan," she said, pushing him. He was laying on the towel and she desperately wanted to be wrapped up in it so he wouldn't see her naked. Well, anymore than he'd obviously seen the previous night.

"Hmmm," he mumbled and rolled over off of the towel.

Veronica quickly wrapped it around her body under the covers. She wanted to wake him up and ask him what had happened. She knew they hadn't had sex. Logan would never take advantage of her. She'd known him long enough to know he was a big softy when it came to protecting her.

She was getting ready to wake Logan up to find out what had happened when the door to the bedroom opened. Veronica immediately pulled the covers further up around her. She was surprised to see Lilly there, especially so early in the morning.

"Veronica Mars are you naked in that bed with Logan?" she asked with a hint of humor. She was smiling at her as she said it.

Veronica didn't know what to say. She made sure the towel was secure around her and then moved to get out of the bed.

Lilly took in the towel and wondered what had happened.

Veronica didn't say anything. She just made her way to the bathroom, closed the door and collapsed against it.

She could hear Lilly move toward the bed and tell Logan to wake up.

"Go away Lilly," he said. He hadn't gotten much sleep and was exhausted.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lilly told him. "What the hell happened last night?!"

That made Logan's eyes pop open. He looked over and saw that Veronica wasn't in the bed any more.

"Where's Veronica?" he asked.

"She just went into the bathroom," Lilly said, "in nothing but a towel. So again I ask, what the hell happened last night?"

Logan sat up and started telling Lilly what happened. He started to tear up when he told her about finding Veronica sitting in the cold shower in a near catatonic state.

"She was ice cold Lil," he said, "and the towels and blankets weren't warming her up so I got in bed with her and held her. I must've fallen asleep trying to warm her up."

Logan moved to get out of the bed and Lilly was kind of surprised to find he was wearing pajama pants. From the way he'd described Veronica it would've made sense for them to both be naked under the covers.

"I'm gonna go back to my room," he said, heading to the door, "I'm sure Veronica wants to get dressed."

He was just getting ready to close the door when he turned around. "Tell her I'm sorry I fell asleep in here," he said.

He closed the door and left Lilly standing there with her mind trying to process everything.

* * *

"You can come out now Veronica," Lilly said when Veronica didn't immediately come out of the bathroom, "Logan went back to his room."

Lilly wasn't sure if Veronica heard her because she didn't hear her moving to come out. She decided if Veronica wasn't coming out, she was going in.

She opened the door and Veronica fell back into the bedroom. She moved to pull the towel around her and then stood up.

"Logan wanted me to tell you he's sorry he fell asleep in here," Lilly told her.

She moved to grab Veronica's bag from the floor. She pulled out some underwear, her yoga pants and a tank top. Veronica took the clothes from her and went back in the bathroom to put them on. She left the door open so she could hear Lilly. She figured she wasn't done talking and there was no point in closing the door because Lilly would've just barged in.

"I'm not surprised he did though," Lilly said, "especially after what he told me about what happened to you in the shower."

Veronica was silent while she dressed. She walked out and sat next to Lilly on the bed when she was done.

"I don't remember what happened," Veronica said, "I mean I remember going to take a shower and the memories started flashing through my brain again. They wouldn't go away and I started crying. I remember collapsing to the floor, but that's it."

"He said you'd been in the shower for a while and hadn't come out," Lilly said, starting to tell her everything Logan had said, "so he came to check on you. He said he called out for you to turn off the water because he could hear your teeth chattering and you told him you couldn't. He ended up going in the bathroom and found you in shock freezing to death. He got in bed to help warm you up and ended up falling asleep."

Veronica was in shock over hearing what had happened. She was embarrassed that Logan had to help her out of the shower. She hadn't wanted anyone to see what Duncan had really done to her and she was sure Logan had. It was impossible to miss the marks when she was naked.

She wanted to cry. She was sure the way she looked was horrible and it made her self-conscious about her body. She'd never let a guy see her naked before and now both Duncan and Logan had seen her.

Lilly could tell she wanted to cry again and pulled her into her arms.

"You know, I think Logan feels worse about last night than you do," Lilly told her. "You should've seen the look on his face when he told me to tell you he was sorry."

It made Veronica feel a little bit better. Logan was a gentleman when it came to her, so she decided that he probably hadn't even looked at her other than picking her up. He probably hadn't turned any lights on in the bedroom, or at least that's what she decided had happened.

Veronica tried to push the thoughts about the previous night out of her mind.

"What are you doing here so early Lil?" Veronica asked after pulling back from the hug. Lilly was not a morning person so there had to be a reason she was there.

"I had to get away from the crazy," Lilly explained.

"I can't even imagine what it's like at your house right now," Veronica replied.

"Yeah, mom and dad got Duncan released on bond yesterday afternoon," Lilly told her, "and when I asked him about being in jail he told me he didn't even know why he'd been brought in."

"You're kidding," Veronica said in disbelief.

"There's more," Lilly said, fidgeting with the bracelets on her wrists, "I told him why he was brought in and when I mentioned it was you he'd raped he flipped out. He grabbed my wrists and started yelling at me. Mom and dad came in and dad got him off of me. A few seconds later Duncan went limp and collapsed to the floor. Mom called 911 and Duncan was taken to the hospital."

They both just sat there for a few minutes. Veronica needed time to process what Lilly had just told her.

"I ran into my mom in the kitchen this morning and she started blaming me for Duncan having to go to the hospital," Lilly said, "I'd had enough of her and just got the hell out of there."

"You can hang out here with me today if you want," Veronica told her.

"I think I might have to clear that with Logan first," Lilly said, unsure of spending the day at her ex's house.

Just then there was a knock on the door. "Can I come in?" Logan asked.

"Speak of the devil," Lilly said, a smile forming on her face.

"Sure," Veronica said, moving to sit up by the headboard.

"I'm going to get something to eat," Logan said after he walked in, "do you want me to bring something up for you?"

"Some fruit if you have it," Veronica told him.

"Since I know you're going to eat Pop Tarts," Lilly said, causing Logan to roll his eyes, "can you bring a pack up for me please? I didn't get a chance to eat before fleeing from the queen bitch this morning."

Logan smiled at Lilly referring to Celeste as the queen bitch.

"Why were you trying to escape from mommy dearest this time?" Logan asked smirking at her. He knew she didn't like being around her mom, but he was sure there was a reason she wanted out of their house.

"It's a long story," Lilly said, "I'll fill you in when you come back."

Lilly moved up to sit next to Veronica after grabbing the remote. They were still flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch when Logan came back. He was carrying a tray of food.

"My mom kind of went overboard," Logan said, carrying the tray over to the bed. He set it down and then sat on the end of the bed closest to Lilly. He knew things were still awkward between him and Veronica.

They each grabbed a plate and dug into all the food.

"So, you said you had a long story to tell," Logan said to Lilly.

Lilly turned off the TV and looked at Logan.

"Duncan's in the hospital and of course the queen bitch blames me," Lilly said. "She is so unbelievable! I'm not the one who raped someone and forgot about it. He flipped out when I told him he'd raped Veronica. He grabbed my wrists and started yelling at me. My dad pulled him off of me and mom called 911. The next thing I know he's being hauled off to the hospital."

"Wow," Logan said, not completely shocked by what Lilly had said. He'd been at the house one day when Duncan had freaked out in a similar manner. Jake had shooed Logan away and Logan never brought it up.

"I probably shouldn't tell you this," Lilly said, "but I'd rather you hear it from me than some lawyers. Duncan's epileptic and if he forgets to take his meds he can have violent blackouts. That's what happened this morning and I'm pretty sure it's what happened at Shelly's house."

Logan and Veronica were in shock.

"You mean Duncan really doesn't remember what he did?" Veronica asked.

"He doesn't have a clue," Lilly said.

"I can't believe he never told me about that," Veronica said in a quiet voice.

Knowing that about Duncan helped Veronica make some sense of that night. At least now she knew why Duncan had been so violent. It didn't make what he did hurt any less, but it was something.

They sat there and ate in silence.

Veronica wondered what would happen with Duncan. She was sure the Kanes' lawyers would do everything they could to keep him out of jail. With all the evidence that had been collected at the hospital, she knew they had enough proof that he'd raped her. There was no way a judge was going to let Duncan off scott free. He might end up in a mental hospital if they brought up his blackout, which seemed highly likely now.

The mental hospital would probably be better for him. Duncan deserved to pay for what he had done, blackout or not, but Veronica couldn't imagine him surviving in jail. Especially since she knew he'd probably be tried as an adult. If he was sentenced to jail it would mean 'hello community soap' for him.

Logan's mom came to check on them a little while later.

"You look a lot better Veronica," Lynn said moving closer to the bed. "Your dad called a little while ago to check on you. He said he was sorry he didn't make it over here last night, but that he'd stop by on his lunch break."

"Thanks Mrs. Echolls," Veronica said, "for letting me stay here."

"You don't have to keep thanking me Veronica," she replied, "we're glad to have you here. I know your dad was worried about keeping you safe and at least you don't have to worry about that here."

Veronica wondered how long she'd be staying at their house. How bad would the media be? She had a feeling that despite the Kanes' best efforts Duncan's arrest would end up in the news, even if he was a minor. She was sure there had been witnesses to him being brought into the station and when he was released into his parents' care.

"I'll send Rosalita up in a little while to get that tray out of your way," Lynn said before turning to leave.

"You don't have to do that Mrs. Echolls," Lilly said, "I need to go downstairs to get Veronica's purse out of my car. I can bring it down there."

She really did have Veronica's purse, but she also knew that Veronica and Logan needed to talk. And her bringing the tray to the kitchen and grabbing Veronica's bag was the perfect setup.

* * *

"So," Logan said after both his mom and Lilly left, "I guess it's kind of obvious why Lilly wanted us to be alone."

"Yeah," Veronica said, unable to look at him.

"I really don't want things to be awkward between the two of us," he said.

There was more silence between them.

"I know you're freaked out because I saw you naked," he continued, "but I couldn't let you just stay in the shower. You were in shock and freezing. I wasn't focused on checking you out. I just wanted to get you out of there and warmed up."

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Veronica said. "I really wish there was a way to make the memories go away."

She started crying again thinking about it.

Logan hated to see her cry. He pushed aside the awkward feeling, moved closer to her and pulled her in to his arms. He held her and just let her cry.

Veronica wasn't the only one who wished there was a way for her to make those memories go away. Logan was sure the memories would fade as time went on, but right now they'd just keep running through her head. And he hated that.

"It's gonna get better," Logan told her, "I know it sucks to have to keep reliving that night. I can't even begin to imagine what happened, but I can tell from the way you looked when I found you that it's something you'd just assume not think about ever again."

"It was horrible Logan," Veronica said through her tears, "I begged him to stop so many times. It hurt so much."

"I'm so sorry," Logan said to her again, rocking her gently in his arms.

"I always thought my first time would be with Duncan," she said, "but I never thought it would happen like that."

"Don't think of that as your first time," Logan said, trying to make her feel better. "One day you'll find a guy who loves you and wants to make love to you. And when that happens, that'll be your first time."

"Thanks for making me feel better Logan," Veronica said, cuddling further into his arms.

He just held her and somehow being in his arms just felt right. She'd stopped crying, but Logan still held her. Veronica thought back to what Lilly had said about Logan liking her. Maybe after she'd had a chance to deal with what had happened she would take a chance and see if Lilly was right. The way Logan talked about making love made her want to have that, and just maybe it would be with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Astranti - I don't think Celeste blames Lilly for Duncan's behavior as much as for setting him off by telling him what happened. But in the end, Celeste will blame Lilly for just about anything she can, and Lilly resents her for it. Logan in this story is the guy who becomes Veronica's best friend and turns into something more. alisosia - I didn't even think about the morning after pill. But even if I did I probably wouldn't have used it because of an idea I came up with that's in this chapter. Also, I'm glad you like Veronica's support system! betsal - Thanks so much for your comment! It really means a lot to me. As far as Logan goes, he's going to basically become her best friend. He's the one who's there no matter what.

**Chapter 4**

_A month later_

There hadn't ended up being a trial. The evidence the doctor had collected at the hospital had overwhelmingly proved Duncan's guilt. The DA ended up striking a deal with Duncan's lawyers and Duncan had to be institutionalized. The judge had decided that Duncan hadn't been in his right mind when the rape had occurred, but he couldn't get away scott free. He had to stay in the hospital for at least sixth months. After the six months was up he would be released into his parents custody but he had to continue seeing a psychiatrist in addition to making sure he continued to take his medicine for the epilepsy.

While Veronica's dad hated what happened to her, he couldn't really argue with the outcome of the case. Duncan had major psychological issues and a mental institution would be the best place for him. Plus since the DA had struck a deal Veronica hadn't had to testify about what happened. She'd been seeing a psychiatrist to deal with what had happened and he was glad she wouldn't have to rehash that horrible night again in a courtroom full of people. It also kept the case out of the media.

Veronica had stayed at Logan's while the DA dealt with the case. Keith didn't want to take any chances with her safety and Lynn had assured him that they were more than happy to have Veronica stay with them.

Veronica and Logan had spent a lot of time together during her stay. After their talk Veronica had felt more comfortable with him. The awkwardness was gone and Lilly hadn't been by the house much. She'd told Veronica that there was a new man in her life, but hadn't gone into much detail about him. She figured Lilly probably just wanted to stay away from all the drama involved with the case, and she couldn't really blame her.

Duncan had been be admitted to the Neptune Behavioral Hospital and things were starting to get back to normal. Or as normal as things were going to be from now on.

* * *

Veronica was going over to Logan's to go swimming. He'd also invited Lilly and surprisingly she'd agreed to come over. She was finally ready to reveal who she'd been dating and they were meeting at Logan's.

Veronica had gotten there before Lilly and her newest fling. Logan was outside lounging by the pool when Veronica got there. She went in the pool house to change into her bathing suit.

The first time she'd gone swimming with Logan after the rape she'd been hesitant to take off her coverup. She knew he'd seen the bruises and they were mostly healed but she'd still been self-conscious about her body. Logan had to assure her that she was still desirable. After that day their relationship had changed. Veronica wasn't sure what was happening but the way Logan was flirting it seemed like Lilly had been right about him having feelings for her.

Logan was floating on a raft in the middle of the pool when Veronica came out of the pool house. He had turned the stereo on and must've zoned out since he didn't look up when she came out. She walked over and put her bag next to one of the lounge chair before grabbing the sunscreen Logan had put on his chair.

She'd rubbed lotion everywhere she could reach, but needed Logan to help cover her back. She was pale and if she didn't lather up she'd end up red as a lobster.

"Logan," she said to get his attention.

As soon as he heard her he moved off the raft and headed towards the stairs.

"Will you do my back?" she asked holding out the tube of sunscreen.

"Ronnie," Logan said, a smile on his face, "I didn't know you liked it like that."

"You're such a pervert," she said handing him the lotion and turning around so her back was to him.

She moved her hair out of the way and Logan started rubbing the lotion all over her. His hands felt so good on her that she nearly moaned. She was startled when she felt his hands slip under the back of her bikini top.

"You did want your whole back covered, right?" he asked in a seductive tone.

Veronica shivered when he said that, but managed to nod her head yes. Logan was being bold and Veronica wondered what he'd do next.

"It's my turn," Logan said, moving around to stand in front of her.

Logan handed her the tube of sunscreen and turned around. She squeezed some lotion in her hand and tentatively reached up to touch his back. He'd made her feel tingly inside but she wasn't sure she'd be able to return the favor.

She started at his shoulders and worked her way down. When she got to the edge of his board shorts she slowly slid one hand inside and moved it across the expanse of his back.

"Oh God Veronica," she heard him moan out.

Seconds later he had turned around and pulled her in for a kiss.

"It's about time you two finally gave in to your feelings," Lilly said startling them.

"Way to kill the mood Lil," Logan said after he and Veronica separated.

Veronica blushed. She couldn't believe Lilly had caught them kissing, although she shouldn't be embarrassed about it.

"Where's the new boy?" Logan asked moving to stand behind Veronica. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest.

"He'll be out in a minute," she told them.

Just then the heard the back door of the house open. Seconds later Casey Gant was heading their way.

"Hi Case," Logan said as he headed to join the group.

Veronica smiled at him. She was happy Lilly had been dating Casey. He'd been kind of a jerk when he dated Darcy but Veronica had a feeling dating Lilly probably changed him. Lilly's personality wouldn't allow for Casey to act the way he had. She'd put him in his place.

"Hey," Casey said as he moved towards them.

"I guess you and Darcy are really through," Veronica said.

"Yeah," Casey said, "we were fighting a lot, over stupid things. We decided it was best for us to go our separate ways."

"Well as much fun as it is standing around talking," Logan said, "I'm ready to get back in the pool."

"We'll be in soon," Lilly said, "we need to put sunscreen on first."

"See you in there," Logan said. He unwrapped his arms from Veronica and moved to lift her into his arms.

"Logan, put me down," Veronica said. "Don't you dare throw me in the pool!"

Logan ignored her and headed towards the edge.

"Logan!" Veronica exclaimed.

Her cries fell on deaf hears. Moments later Logan jumped into the pool with Veronica in his arms.

As soon as Veronica hit the water she tried to swim away from Logan but he grabbed her around the waist to keep her close to him.

Casey and Lilly had finished lathering themselves up and jumped in to join Logan and Veronica, who were still splashing around.

Lilly attacked Logan so Veronica could get away from him, but Logan retaliated by grabbing her. Lilly struggled to get free from him.

"A little help would be nice Case," Lilly said, fighting against Logan.

"You wanna go by Casey?" Logan asked. He didn't wait for a response. He lifted her slightly out of the water and threw her in Casey's direction.

Casey reached out for her to keep her from going under. To say Lilly was unhappy was an understatement.

"I'm so gonna get you back for that Echolls," Lilly said, anger evident in her voice.

Veronica had snuck up behind Logan. She pushed his legs out from underneath him and grabbed his shoulders to push him under the water.

* * *

They had fun splashing around in the water but the girls decided it was time for them to get out and dry off. They laid down on the lounge chairs and relaxed while the guys stayed in the pool.

They had only been laying out for a few minutes when Veronica got up.

"Logan," she said to get his attention, "where can I find some Advil?"

"There should be some in the cabinet to the right of the sink in the bathroom in the pool house," he told her.

She was gone for longer than Lilly knew it would take to get some Advil.

"I'm gonna go check on Veronica," she said getting up from her lounge chair, "you two need anything while I'm up?"

"Yeah," Logan said, "why don't you grab a few bottles of water from the fridge."

Lilly nodded and then turned to head to the pool house.

"Veronica?" Lilly called out as she made her way to the bathroom.

She didn't get a response but when she got closer to the door she could hear Veronica moaning and crying. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was in pain. Lilly opened the door to the bathroom and found Veronica curled up in a ball on the floor clutching her stomach.

"Veronica what's wrong?" Lilly asked, moving to kneel down in front of her.

"I thought it was cramps," Veronica managed to get out through her tears, "but it hurts so much more now. And I started bleeding."

Lilly saw the towel Veronica was sitting on. It was covered in blood.

"I'm going to get Logan," Lilly said, moving to stand back up, "we need to get you to the hospital."

Veronica didn't say anything, just nodded.

Lilly raced out of the pool house. "Get out of the pool now!" Lilly yelled as soon as she got outside.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked as he and Casey headed towards the stairs.

"We need to get Veronica to the hospital," she told them. "Go dry off and meet me in the bathroom."

Lilly turned back around and went to be with Veronica while they waited for the guys.

"You're gonna be ok," Lilly assured her, moving to push her hair behind her ear. "Logan's gonna come pick you up and carry you out to Casey's car and we're gonna take you to the hospital."

"I'm scared," Veronica said.

"Oh my God," Logan said when he reached the door to the bathroom.

"Carry her out to Casey's car," Lilly said standing up again, "Veronica where's your purse?"

"Logan's room," she told her.

"I'll go get it and meet you out front," she said, rushing out of the bathroom.

Casey was waiting in the living room for everyone.

"Help Logan get Veronica to your car please," Lilly said leaning up to kiss him, "I'll meet you out there."

She went and grabbed her bag before racing into the house to get Veronica's purse.

Logan's mom had been sitting in the living room when she heard the back door open and slam shut. She got up to see what was going on and saw Lilly racing up the stairs. A minute later the door opened again and Lynn saw Logan carrying Veronica, who was still crying into the house.

"What wrong?" Lynn asked.

"I don't know," Logan told her, "but we're taking her to the hospital. Can you call her dad and let him know please?"

"Sure sweetie," Lynn said, "I'll meet you all at the hospital."

Lilly came racing down the stairs just as Logan carried Veronica out the front door. Lynn had opened the gate so they could get out fast. She watched them get in Casey's SUV and peel out of the driveway. She got in her car and made her way out behind them, calling Keith as she did.

Keith told her to stay with the kids and that he was sending a police escort. He couldn't leave the station, but he'd meet them at the hospital as soon as possible.

* * *

They made it to the hospital in record time once the deputies Keith sent caught up with them. Logan and Lilly rushed in with Veronica while Lynn and Casey went to park.

Logan told the nurse at the admitting desk that Veronica had lost a lot of blood. She had another nurse escort Logan into an exam room while Lilly stayed and waited for Veronica's insurance information to be put into the computer.

Veronica was pale when Logan laid her down on the hospital bed. The nurse that had led him in there was gathering the things she needed to start Veronica on an IV. Logan stayed out of her way while she did that, but moved back next to the bed to hold Veronica's hand once she was done.

"I'll be right back," the nurse said, "I need to go get her paperwork."

The nurse left and Logan moved to sit down beside the bed. He moved his hand up to stroke Veronica's face. "I hate seeing you in so much pain baby," Logan said, using a term of endearment for the first time. He didn't know where they stood but he loved her and wanted to be there for her.

When the nurse came back Lilly was with her. "I'm gonna go wait with your mom and Casey," she said to Logan. "Veronica's dad should be here soon. Text me and let me know what's going on with her."

Logan nodded, not able to find his voice to say anything to Lilly, and Lilly turned and walked back out of the room.

"A doctor should be in soon to look at her," the nurse said while writing some information on Veronica's chart.

Sure enough a doctor came in a minute later. The doctor looked at Veronica for a second and then the nurse handed him the chart.

"Veronica, I'm Dr. Morris," the doctor said after looking at her chart. "What brought you here today?"

"I started cramping," she said, "and when I went to the bathroom I saw that I was bleeding. There was so much blood."

She started moaning and clutching her stomach.

"I'm gonna get you some medicine for the pain," he told her, "but first I want to figure out what's going on."

He moved a stool to the end of the bed and pushed a tray with some medical instruments near it.

"Do you want your boyfriend to stay?" he asked.

"I'm not-" Logan started to say, but Veronica cut him off.

"Yes," she moaned out.

"Ok, then," the doctor said, "let's see what's going on. First I'm gonna need you to put on a hospital gown. Nurse Allen will be here if you need help. I'm going to go get another doctor to consult on your case. She's an OB/GYN. I'll be back as soon as I have her paged."

He left a moment later and Veronica moved to sit up on the bed but the pain was too much.

"I'm gonna lay the gown on top of you," the nurse said, "and then have you lay on your side so I can tie it in the back."

"Do you mind if I do it?" Logan asked.

"Veronica is that ok?" the nurse asked before handing the gown to Logan.

"Yes," she managed to get out.

Logan took the gown and laid it on top of her. He helped her get her arms through and then tucked it in on the side she'd be rolling on to. He helped her roll on her side. He reached up and untied her bathing suit top. He slid it from her body and then tied up the back of the gown. When he was done he helped her move back on her back.

She'd only been laying there a few minutes when the two doctors came in.

"Veronica, I'm Dr. Turner," the female doctor said, "Dr. Morris wanted me to come take a look at you."

Veronica just nodded.

"She still has her bathing suit bottom on," Logan told her. He hadn't wanted to pull it off of her. It was one thing to pull off her top, but he wasn't about to try and pull the bottom off.

"Veronica," Dr. Turner said, "I'm gonna need to take them off and then you're going to need to put your feet in the stirrups."

Veronica nodded and Dr. Turner moved to slip her hands under Veronica's hospital gown after she put on a pair of gloves. Seconds later she'd pulled off the blood soaked bottom. She handed it to the nurse who put it in a plastic bag and set it on the counter.

Veronica moved her feet into the stirrups and Dr. Turner moved to sit on a stool at the end of the bed and then moved Veronica's gown up. She moved her hand up and pushed gently on Veronica's stomach causing her to cry out in pain.

"I take it that hurts," Dr. Turner said.

"Yes," Veronica cried out.

"Nurse Allen can you go get an ultrasound machine please," Dr. Turner said.

The nurse left and Dr. Turner moved to stand up.

"Veronica," she said moving to stand next to the bed so Veronica could see her, "is there any chance you're pregnant?"

Logan sat there stunned. And Veronica started crying again after realizing she'd never gone back to have the pregnancy test redone after she'd been released following the rape.

"Yes," Veronica said through her tears.

"It looks like you're having a miscarriage," Dr. Turner told her. "I want to do an ultrasound to be sure, but from the way you're hemorrhaging I'd say that's what's going on."

"Oh my god," Veronica cried out, bringing a hand to her mouth, "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Dr. Morris reached for a container and brought it to the bed. Veronica proceeded to lean over and throw up in it.

"Ronnie," Logan said, standing up to move closer to her. He moved her hair back and stroked her face.

She moved to lay on her back when she was done and looked up at Logan. "I can't believe I forgot to have that test redone," she said crying more.

"You need to tell Dr. Turner about what happened," he said quietly to her.

Veronica nodded and then looked over at Dr. Turner.

"I was raped two months ago," she told her, "they did a pregnancy test but it was inconclusive. The doctor told me to come back and have the test redone a week later but I forgot about it."

"I can understand why you forgot about it," the doctor said in a motherly tone.

Just then Nurse Allen opened the door and rolled in the machine.

Dr. Turner moved it next to the bed and set it up.

"Veronica, before I do this I need to ask you something," she said.

"What?" Veronica asked.

"If it turns out that you are pregnant, which I'm pretty sure you are," she said, "if you aren't having a miscarriage, do you want to terminate the pregnancy?"

Veronica didn't know what to say to her. Up until a few minutes ago she didn't even know or think she was pregnant. And now the doctor was asking her if she wanted to have an abortion if she wasn't actually having a miscarriage.

"Can you just do the ultrasound," Veronica said, "if I'm not having a miscarriage I'll worry about that after you're done."

"Ok," Dr. Turner said, "I'm gonna have to move your gown up to get to your stomach."

Nurse Allen brought a blanket over and laid it on Veronica's bottom half. Once it was in place Dr. Turner inched up the hospital gown until she had access to Veronica midsection.

She reached out and grabbed a bottle that was next to the monitor on the machine. "I'm gonna put some gel on your stomach," she told her, "it's going to be really cold."

She squeezed out some gel and then reached over to turn the machine on.

"Are you ready?" she asked Veronica.

Veronica nodded yes and reached out for Logan's hand, gripping it tight once she had it.

The doctor took the wand and started moving it over Veronica's stomach. All of a sudden there was a loud swooshing sound coming from the machine. Dr. Turner moved closer to the machine to get a better look at the monitor.

"It looks like I was partially right," Dr. Turner said, turning to look at Veronica. "It looks like you were pregnant with twins but only one survived. That's what all the blood is from."

Veronica was shocked. She couldn't believe she was pregnant, with Duncan's baby none the less.

"Can you go get Lilly please?" Veronica asked Logan.

"Sure," he said and leaned in to kiss her on her forehead. He moved his mouth next to her ear and whispered, "we're in this together Veronica."

She smiled at him as he moved back from her. He let go of her hand and then left to get Lilly.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter kind of hit on a comment Astranti about Veronica being lucky that neither Cassidy nor Duncan got her pregnant on the show.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Nichole - I imagine it's the hardest thing to have to deal with, especially when it happens with someone you once loved. KatieDean0343 - You're right, it will be tough no matter what she decides. BeWitchingRedhead36 - Knowing the situation with Duncan is part of the reason she's torn about what to do with the new information. Astranti - Veronica on the show was a lot luckier than Veronica in this story! The whole situation is rough, and unfortunately, it just seems to keep getting worse for Veronica. brankel1 - She's torn about the decision as you'll see in this chapter. Jane - Glad you like the way Logan's being written in this story. He's not the jackass he was on the show and personally I think that was just a facade.

*I'm trying to write more so I can continue to update this one on a regular basis, but it's not exactly working out right now.*

**Chapter 5**

Veronica was numb. Dr. Turner had given her medicine to help with the pain of of the miscarriage. She couldn't believe she was having a miscarriage and yet was still pregnant.

Dr. Morris had excused himself from the room after telling Veronica she was in good hands.

Veronica just laid there waiting for Logan to bring Lilly to her room.

When they came in Veronica asked Dr. Turner and Nurse Allen to leave. She wanted to tell Lilly what was going on. She figured once Lilly knew, the three of them could talk and figure out what the hell she was going to do about the situation.

Once it was just the three of them Veronica blurted out, "I'm pregnant."

Lilly looked over at Logan. "You two?" she asked moving her hand between him and Veronica.

Logan shook his head no and then moved to sit next to Veronica.

"Wait a second," Lilly said, "I thought they did a pregnancy test the night you were brought in."

"They did," Veronica told her, "but it was inconclusive. I was supposed to come back and have another test but I never did. I forgot about it."

"So you're pregnant with Donut's baby," Lilly said solemnly. Lilly stood there absorbing the information for a second. "Wait, what was with all the blood? If you were pregnant wouldn't that blood mean you had a miscarriage?" she asked.

"I kind of did," Veronica said.

"That makes no sense," Lilly responded.

"I was pregnant with twins," Veronica explained, "I had a partial miscarriage or something like that."

"Wow," Lilly said stunned at the news.

"Yeah, imagine how I feel now that I know," she said sadly.

"I can guess," Lilly said, "you're trying to figure out what to do now that you know."

"Yep," Veronica said, "it would be so easy to call Dr. Turner back in here and terminate the pregnancy, especially after what led to me being pregnant."

"So what's stopping you from doing that?" Lilly asked. Sure the baby inside of Veronica would be her niece or nephew, but knowing how he or she was conceived would slowly kill Veronica. It shouldn't matter if the baby was Duncan's or not. It was a product of a rape.

"Duncan," Veronica whispered out.

Logan's face fell when Veronica said that. He wasn't going to tell Veronica what to do. He'd support whatever decision she made. But hearing her whisper out Duncan's name that way made his heart drop.

"I loved him once," Veronica said holding back tears, "and what makes this ten times more difficult to decide is the fact that I'm in love with someone else now."

Logan looked up at her when she said that.

"Yes," Veronica said looking at him, "I mean you."

Logan smiled after she said that. He moved over to stand next to her bed. He reached out and pulled her hand into his again.

"I'll support whatever decision you make," he told her.

"You realize if you decide to have the baby Celeste is going to go postal when she finds out it's Duncan's," Lilly remarked.

Veronica laughed for the first time since she'd started feeling bad that afternoon. She could just imagine the look on Celeste's face if Veronica told her she was having Duncan's baby. Celeste had never approved of their relationship and Veronica was sure she was the reason Duncan had broken up with her. As much fun as it would be to flaunt her pregnancy, it wasn't a good enough reason for her to actually have the baby.

She was only sixteen years old. She was getting ready to start her junior year of high school in a little more than a month. Did she really want to go back to school pregnant?

She was pretty sure no one else knew what had happened. The case had stayed out of the media. All the 09ers knew was that Duncan had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

If she went back to school pregnant everyone would think Logan was the father. Logan wouldn't deny it because people would begin to wonder who Veronica had slept with. If anyone put two and two together about her and Duncan she was sure everyone would blame her for Duncan being institutionalized.

"I need some time to think about it," Veronica said letting the tears she'd been holding back fall.

"Well," Lilly said, "either way you're going to have to tell your dad. Since you're a minor the doctor would need your dad's permission if you want the abortion. And if you decide to keep it I think your dad's gonna notice something's up in a few months."

Veronica hadn't even thought about telling her dad. Lilly was right though she needed to tell him and she needed to do it before Dr. Turner got a chance.

"Will you go get him for me Lil?" she asked wiping away the tears.

"Sure," she said, "do you want me and Logan here when you tell him?"

"Yes," she said, "it'll make it easier for me. If I can't get the words out, one of you can tell him."

"I'll be back in a few," Lilly said and then left.

"I love you," Logan said once Lilly was gone, "and I meant what I said. I'll support whatever you decide. If you want to have the baby I'll be with you every step of the way. And if you decide to terminate I'll be there for you while you recover."

"Since we've confessed our love," Veronica said smiling at him, "does that mean we've moved right past the dating stage into the boyfriend/girlfriend stage?"

Logan laughed. "Yep," he said, "you're stuck with me now Mars."

Veronica was quiet for a moment. "Logan," she said softly, "what do you think I should do?"

Logan just stood there. He didn't know what to say. As much as it would kill him if Veronica decided to have Duncan's baby after what he'd done to her, he wasn't about to tell her to have an abortion. It was her body and her decision to make. He didn't want to influence her one way or another.

Her dad walked in before he had time to respond.

"Where's Lilly?" Veronica asked her dad.

"She stayed in the waiting room with Casey and Lynn," he explained.

Keith walked over to the side of the bed opposite Logan. He reached down and took the hand Logan wasn't holding in his.

"Sweetie these trips to the ER need to stop," he joked.

Veronica laughed and then started crying again. How in the world was she going to tell her father why she was there today? She turned her head away from her dad. She just couldn't look him in the eye.

"Veronica," Keith said, "what's going on?" He was getting scared. Veronica looked almost as fragile as the last time she'd been in the hospital.

"Logan," Veronica said looking up at him.

Logan could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn't strong enough to tell her dad. She wanted him to do it for her. He could see the anguish and nodded to indicate he'd tell her dad.

"Mr. Mars," Logan said to get his attention, "Veronica's pregnant."

Keith's eyes got wide upon hearing the news.

"It's not mine," Logan added quickly. He didn't want the sheriff thinking he'd been sleeping with Veronica, not that he hadn't wanted to several times when she'd stayed at his house.

"Oh sweetie," Keith said, turning his eyes back to his daughter.

"It was twins," Logan said, continuing to explain everything, "but she had a partial miscarriage, which is why she was bleeding so much. Veronica told Dr. Turner about the rape and she asked if Veronica wanted to terminate the pregnancy."

"Veronica, I'm not going to tell you what to do," Keith said, "but I want you to really think about the options before you make a decision. I'll support whatever you decide to do."

"I have so many thoughts running through my head right now," Veronica cried out.

"Sweetie, just take some time to really think this through," Keith said, "you don't have to decide right now. Think about it tonight and then tomorrow morning you can decide what you want to do."

Keith stayed with them for a while but he had to leave to get back to the station. A minute after he left Lilly, Casey and Lynn came to Veronica's room.

"We're gonna get going," Lilly said walking over to Veronica's bed. She leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. "Call me if you need anything," she said as she pulled away. She handed Logan Veronica's bag before heading towards Casey.

They were walking out the door when Veronica called out for Casey. He turned around and looked at her.

"Thank you for getting me here," Veronica said.

"You're welcome," Casey responded, smiling at her. "Get better soon," he added and then turned to follow Lilly out of the room.

Lynn moved over to the bed once they were gone. "You look like you're doing a lot better now," Lynn said looking down at Veronica.

"I feel a lot better," Veronica told her.

"I'm gonna get going," Lynn said, "I just wanted to check on you before I left. Do you two need anything before I go?"

"Can you have one of the drivers bring my car here?" Logan asked.

"I'll just send a car to get you later," Lynn said, "since I assume Veronica will be staying here tonight."

"Yeah, she's gotta stay here tonight," Logan said.

"I'll see you later then," Lynn said, "you take good care of her."

"Mrs. Echolls," Veronica called out just as she made it to the door.

Lynn turned around. "Could you stay for a little while?" Veronica asked. She wanted someone to talk to about the situation, someone who'd been through a pregnancy.

She wished her mom was there, but she wasn't. Keith wanted her to go to rehab but she refused, so he told her to leave. He didn't want Veronica being around a mother who was constantly blitzed.

"Sure," Lynn said. She moved to sit in the chair across the bed from Logan.

"Did my dad or Lilly tell you what happened?" Veronica asked.

"No," Lynn said, "and it wasn't my place to ask. I just wanted to know you were going to be ok and Lilly told me you were going to be fine."

Veronica held Lynn's gaze. "I'm pregnant," Veronica told her.

"Logan," Lynn said, snapping her head up to look at her son.

"Logan and I haven't had sex," Veronica said quickly, "it's Duncan's."

"Oh sweetie," Lynn said in a motherly tone, looking back at Veronica. Veronica could see the compassion in her eyes.

"I was pregnant with twins," Veronica explained, "but I had a partial miscarriage. That's why I was bleeding so badly earlier. And now I have to decide whether I want to have the baby that survived or terminate the pregnancy."

"That's a big decision for someone your age to have to make," Lynn said, completely sympathetic to Veronica's current situation.

"I know," Veronica said crying yet again, "and my heart and head are pulling me in different directions."

They were all silent for a while. Lynn was taking in what Veronica had told her. Veronica was thinking about how if the baby were Logan's she wouldn't hesitate to have it. And Logan was thinking about how much he hated Duncan for putting Veronica in this situation.

"Mrs. Echolls," Veronica said a few minutes later, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure sweetie," Lynn replied.

"Everyone has told me that it's my decision and they'll support me whatever I decide," Veronica said. "I've seriously considered both options and I was wondering...how difficult is it to go through a pregnancy?"

Logan's grip on her hand loosened slightly when she asked his mom that. Deep down she knew that everyone thought it would be best if she terminated the pregnancy, but Veronica wasn't sure she could go through with it.

"It's different for every woman," Lynn told her. "I had horrible morning sickness when I was pregnant with Logan. There were some days when it didn't just happen in the morning, it went on throughout the day. Your body goes through a lot of changes and your emotions are all over the place. Aaron and I had some major arguments when I was pregnant over stupid things."

The room was silent for a few minutes until Lynn spoke again.

"Veronica," she said, "I take it from that question you're considering having the baby. I want you to know all of us will be there for you if you decide to do that, but sweetie I really want you to think about what that's going to mean. Babies are a full-time commitment. They depend on you for everything. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but I really want you to think about it. You're only sixteen and even with help it's going to be difficult for you to finish high school. Things will change drastically."

"This decision shouldn't be so difficult!" Veronica cried out. "I hate that my heart is telling me not to terminate the pregnancy. This baby is a part of me and Duncan, and despite how it happened I know there's a part of both of us that still loves each other. My head is telling me to have the abortion because I'm not ready to be a mom."

Veronica started tearing up again. "I wish I could talk to Duncan," she said, "this shouldn't be just my decision."

"Ronnie," Logan said to get her attention, "do you want me to see if Lilly and I can go visit him?" Logan really didn't want to do it, but he'd do it for Veronica. If she really wanted his input before making a decision he'd bite the bullet and go talk to him for her.

"You'd do that for me?" Veronica asked, shocked by Logan's offer. He wasn't exactly friends with Duncan anymore. Veronica knew he hated Duncan for what he'd done to her.

"I'd do anything for you," Logan told her, "and if you want him to know you're pregnant I'll go with Lilly to tell him. I don't think either of us should see him alone. It probably wouldn't end well."

"You're probably right about that," Veronica said. "I do want to know what he thinks before I make a decision. Can you call Lilly and see what she can do?"

"Yeah," Logan said, "I'm gonna go get us something to eat from the cafeteria. I'll call her on my way there. Can you stay with Veronica while I'm gone mom?"

"Of course Logan," his mom replied.

"I'll be back soon," Logan said, moving to stand up. He leaned in and kissed Veronica on her forehead before turning to leave.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **lyz31 - Veronica is thinking about the decision. She knows what Duncan did was wrong, but a part of her still has feelings for him. Nichole - I've always liked Lynn. I wish she hadn't been killed off on the show. ShanghaiLily - I totally understand where you are coming from. If I didn't think it would spoil the story I'd put a disclaimer in the story description about the morning after pill. I didn't use it in this story because it would've limited what I could write about the ramifications of what happened to Veronica. That being said, I'm glad you like the story! alisosia - It really is a difficult decision. You're about to find out what her choice ends up being... flyersgrl - I'm happy that you like the story and the way I'm writing Logan. Part of the reason I wanted to write this was to show Logan's softer side.

**Chapter 6**

Logan and Lilly had gone to Neptune Behavioral Hospital to visit Duncan the next afternoon. Logan had gone back to be with Veronica in the morning and Lilly had picked him up. They hated to leave Veronica alone, but she wanted them to go talk to Duncan.

Veronica watched some television and flipped through the magazines Lilly had brought when she picked up Logan.

Dr. Turner had come in to check on her that morning. She wanted to know if Veronica had made a decision yet. Veronica told her that she wanted to wait to make a decision. Dr. Turner told her she'd be released later that afternoon, unless she decided she wanted to go through with terminating the pregnancy later that day.

* * *

Veronica was anxious for Logan and Lilly to get back. The decision was weighing heavily on her mind and she just wanted to make the choice and have the thoughts go away.

Logan and Lilly were gone for hours. Veronica was starting to worry about them and decided to text Logan to see when they would be back.

'On our way back now' was the response she got moments later.

Lilly and Logan returned a short time later and Veronica could tell from the expressions on their faces that things hadn't gone well.

"What happened? What did Duncan say?" Veronica asked.

Logan and walked over and sat in the chair he'd taken over and reached for her hand.

"Veronica I know we all said the decision is yours and we'll back you no matter what you decide," Logan said, looking lovingly into her eyes, "but you need to have the abortion."

Veronica was shocked by what Logan was telling her. What had Duncan told them that made him say that to her?

"Why?" Veronica asked is a small voice. "What did Duncan say when you told him I was pregnant?"

"Veronica, trust me you don't want to know," Logan said, "all you need to know is that you need to have the abortion."

"I'm not doing anything until one of you tell me what happened!" Veronica yelled. She couldn't help her outburst. She'd thought Duncan would want her to have the baby, and somewhere deep inside it's what she wanted him to say. She had been seriously considering having the baby.

"Veronica," Lilly said to turn her attention from Logan, who looked about ready to cry, "please just listen to Logan. I'm begging you. If we tell you what Duncan told us I think it might break you and I don't want to see that happen. Just forget about Duncan and have the abortion."

Lilly was on the verge of tears. She didn't want to tell Veronica what they'd been told. It would only hurt her and Veronica had been hurt enough.

"Can you go have Dr. Turner paged?" Veronica asked Lilly.

"Yeah," Lilly said, "I'll be right back."

She left to go do that.

"Logan," Veronica said, wanting him to look up at her. When he finally did she continued. "I love you and I know you love me and want to protect me," she said, "but I want to know. I'm not having the abortion until I know what Duncan said. I can't imagine him not wanting this baby and to be honest I'm not sure that I want to have the abortion."

Logan started crying when Veronica said that. She couldn't have the baby and even though he and Lilly had decided it was best not to tell her, he might have to tell her. He couldn't let her go through with the pregnancy.

"Ronnie," Logan said, trying to stop the tears, "I do love you. Please trust me. I'm not telling you to have the abortion for selfish reasons."

"Then tell me why I need to have the abortion," Veronica pleaded.

"Veronica please stop," Logan said, "all you need to know is that Duncan doesn't want you to have the baby."

That shocked her completely. She wished she had been able to talk to Duncan instead of sending Lilly and Logan to do it.

Lilly came in just then. "Dr. Turner is delivering a baby," Lilly said, "but she'll be here as soon as she can."

Veronica hated to see Logan crying but she had to know. She was steadfast in her decision and wouldn't back down.

"I know both of you are trying to protect me from something," Veronica said, "but I'm stronger than you think and I want to know what Duncan said. I want to know why I need to have the abortion. And if neither of you want to tell me I'll get my dad to figure out a way for me to talk to Duncan."

"Veronica," Logan begged, "you really don't want to do that."

Veronica just looked at him, not willing to back down.

"Lilly," Logan said, "we have to tell her. It's better that it comes from us than Duncan."

Lilly just stood there for a minute not saying anything. She moved over and sat in the other chair next to Veronica's bed.

Veronica looked over at her.

"There's no easy way to say this," Lilly said, "but there is a good reason not to have that baby."

There were a few seconds of silence before Lilly continued.

"Logan and I went and talked to my dad after we saw Duncan," Lilly told her, Veronica didn't know why they'd done that, but she was about to find out. "When I told Duncan you were pregnant he broke down crying. At first I thought he was just upset that it had happened the way it had, but then he started talking. He said we had to tell you to have an abortion. I wanted to know why and he didn't want to tell me. I told him we weren't leaving without him giving us a reason. He finally broke down and told us the reason. It was the reason he broke up with you."

Lilly stopped again. She was starting to cry.

"Veronica," Lilly said, reaching for her other hand, "you can't have the baby because you're our sister."

"What?" Veronica asked in a small voice. Lilly had to be wrong. She wasn't their sister. Lianne and Keith Mars were her parents, not Celeste and Jake Kane.

"It's true," Lilly said through her tears, "Logan and I went to Kane Software to confront my dad. He broke down when I told him what Duncan had said. He said it was true. He'd had an affair with your mom, an ongoing one at that, and that there had been a DNA test done recently. Your dad doesn't know though."

"Oh my god," Veronica said. That wasn't what she thought Lilly would tell her. She wasn't sure what she'd expected her to say, but it definitely wasn't that.

They all sat there not saying a word. Veronica wasn't sure how much time had passed but the next thing she knew Dr. Turner was entering her room.

"I want to terminate the pregnancy," Veronica said as soon as she'd walked through the door.

Dr. Turner could tell from the tone of Veronica's voice that she was serious about what she'd said.

"I want to have it done as soon as possible," Veronica told her.

"Ok, I'm going to have to call your dad," Dr. Turner told her, "he'll need to sign a consent form before I do anything else. I'm also going to have someone from psych come down and talk to you. It's standard procedure before we terminate a pregnancy."

"Do whatever you have to do," Veronica said, "I just want this over with as soon as possible. I don't want to have this baby."

"Ok," Dr. Turner said, "I'll go call your dad and get things in motion."

* * *

Veronica's dad had come to hospital as soon as Dr. Turner called him. Veronica had talked to the psychologist that had been sent to her room. She told the doctor why she needed to end the pregnancy and the doctor agreed that considering the circumstances it was for the best.

Dr. Turner performed the procedure late in the afternoon. She made Veronica stay until that night to make sure she was ok before releasing her.

Her father had to work that night so he let Veronica go home with Logan. He didn't want her to be alone and he knew Logan and his parents would take care of her.

Logan had carried her up the stairs and into his bedroom. There was no point in bringing her to the guest room. He'd just end up in there with her and he'd much rather just be in his room.

His mom came up to check on them, bringing some water for Veronica to take the medicine she'd gotten before leaving the hospital. She wasn't thrilled to find them in Logan's room laying on his bed, but she didn't say anything. She knew all they'd be doing that night was sleeping. She had a feeling Keith knew that too or he would have never let Veronica spend the night there.

"You let me know what you want for dinner," Lynn said before leaving.

Veronica took her meds and then curled up in Logan's arms. He held her and once he was sure she was asleep he turned on the TV. He needed something to take his mind off of the events of the day. He couldn't believe that Veronica was Lilly and Duncan's sister. Finding that out had made her rape all that more disturbing. It wasn't just rape anymore, it was incest.

Veronica hadn't said much since she learned the truth about her parentage. She had been quiet after she told Dr. Turner she wanted the abortion.

She had asked him and Lilly not to say anything to her dad. She didn't know if he knew and she wanted to be the one to tell him.

Her dad hadn't asked why she decided to terminate the pregnancy. He just signed the consent form and waited with everyone else while the procedure was done.

The only other thing she'd said was she wanted to go home with Logan. She wanted to be with someone who knew the truth and she couldn't bear to be around the Kanes after what she'd learned. The fact that her father had to work that night made it a lot easier to agree to her request.

Veronica woke up about an hour later.

"Hey sleepyhead," Logan said, looking down at her.

"How long was I out for?" she asked.

"A little more than an hour," Logan told her.

Veronica moved out of Logan's grasp and slowly slid to the edge of the bed. "I'm gonna go take a shower," she told Logan.

"I'm getting kind of hungry," Logan said. "What do you want for dinner? I'll order it while you're in there."

Veronica just sat there, unable to really think at the moment.

"Pizza?" he asked when she didn't say anything.

"That sounds good," she replied moving off the bed. She went to Logan's closet to get the pajamas she kept there and then headed to his bathroom.

She came back out a minute later wrapped in just a towel. She walked over to the bag she'd brought over the other day when they'd gone swimming and grabbed something from it. When she stood up Logan could see it was a pair of underwear.

"Umm," Veronica said looking at Logan, "do you think you could go get your mom?"

"Yeah," he said, moving to get up, "what do you need her for?"

Veronica didn't really want to talk about it with Logan and he got the hint. He left and him mom came into his room a few minutes later.

"Logan said you wanted to talk to me," Lynn said.

Veronica looked at the door, waiting for Logan to follow his mom into his room.

"He stayed downstairs to order pizza," Lynn told her.

"Oh," Veronica said, relieved he wasn't going to come in while she talked to his mom.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Lynn asked.

"Dr. Turner gave me a pad to wear before I left the hospital," Veronica said, "but I'm going to take a shower and put on clean clothes and I'm still bleeding a little."

Lynn understood what she was saying. "I'll go get you some supplies to stash in Logan's bathroom," Lynn said. "I'll be right back."

Lynn came back a few minutes later and handed Veronica a cosmetic bag.

"I thought it would be more discreet," she said.

"Thanks Mrs. Echolls," Veronica said.

"You're welcome," she responded. "Anytime you need anything, feel free to ask."

"I'm gonna go take a shower now," Veronica said. "You can tell Logan it's safe to come back to his room now."

"I'll let him know," Lynn said as she walked towards the doors.

* * *

Veronica and Logan had eaten the pizza on Logan's bed while watching a movie. When they were done eating Logan tossed the pizza box on the floor and moved up to lay on his pillows. Veronica crawled up next to him and moved his arm so she could lay her head on his chest.

Things had been a little awkward after Veronica had the abortion and Logan wasn't sure what to do around her. He didn't want to freak her out so he let her decide what they could and couldn't do. He was happy she wanted to be in his arms. He wanted to make her feel better and show her how much he cared about her.

He leaned down a few minutes later and kissed her on the top of her head. Veronica looked up when he did and she saw the love in his eyes. She moved to grab the remote for the television and turned it off.

"You want to go to sleep?" Logan asked.

"No," Veronica said moving up to kiss him on the lips.

Logan kissed her back but let Veronica set the pace. He didn't want to push her after everything she'd been through. This was a new step in their relationship.

Veronica moved on top of him. He instinctively reached down and put his hands on her hips to steady her somewhat.

She had pushed her tongue against Logan's lips and he opened his mouth to let their tongues battle one another for control of the kiss. He'd moved his right hand up and into Veronica's hair.

She was writhing against him and he was getting aroused. He had to stop them before they went too far. She wasn't ready for them to go any further, emotionally and especially physically.

"We need to stop," Logan managed to say in between kisses.

"I know that you're right," Veronica said, "but I don't want to stop."

"Veronica, if we don't stop now I'm honestly not sure I'll be able to control myself," he said. "I'm already pretty fucking turned on in case you hadn't noticed."

"I noticed," she said, smiling down at him.

She rolled onto her back and pulled him on top of her. She leaned up to kiss him but he pulled back.

"This is such a bad idea Ronnie," Logan said, moving away from her and back to the safety of his side of the bed.

Veronica started moving towards him again. He couldn't take the chance of hurting her so he moved to get off the bed.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Logan said. He grabbed his pajama pants and a t-shirt and headed into his bathroom.

He turned the water on and waited for it to heat up. Once the water was warm he stripped and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

He'd just stepped under the stream of water when he heard the bathroom door open. He looked over and saw Veronica standing in the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing!" Logan yelled. He turned off the water and opened the shower door just enough to grab his towel. He wrapped it securely around his waist and stepped out to face Veronica.

"We need to talk," she said.

"And you decided that the best time to do that was while I was taking a shower!" he exclaimed.

"You're the one who rushed out of the room," Veronica pointed out.

"I had a good reason," Logan bit out.

"We could've talked about it," Veronica said, pointing to his nether regions, "but you rushed off to relieve yourself in the shower."

Logan was trying to control his anger. He shouldn't be angry that his girlfriend wanted to talk about sexual stuff, but they'd just started dating. And despite the fact that Veronica was no longer a virgin, he was sure anything past making out would be new to her.

Veronica could tell that Logan was angry with her for barging in on him, but she wasn't sorry she had done it.

"I want to try new things with you," she told Logan, looking him in the eyes. "I may not be ready for sex tonight but we could do other things. You could teach me."

Logan's eyes got wide and he felt the anger dissipate. "What exactly are you saying?" Logan asked.

"I'm saying that I don't want you to masturbate in the shower when you have a girlfriend who's willing to help you out," she said, biting her lip after she finished.

Logan smiled at her. "You wanna help?" Logan asked.

Veronica nodded her head yes and then turned to walk back into his room. Logan followed her and grabbed her arm before she climbed back on his bed. He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

"You really don't have to do this," Logan said looking down at her.

"I know, but I _want_ to do it," she told him.

"I love you," Logan said and then leaned down to kiss her. "And I love that you _want_ to do that," he said when he pulled back, "but I don't think tonight is the night to do it."

"I want new memories," Veronica said looking up at him on the verge of tears. "I want to be with you and forget about what happened. I want you to be my real first, the first guy I make love with."

Logan's heart started beating faster after she told him that. How could he turn her down after hearing her say that?

"You have no idea how much I want to make love to you," Logan said. "I want to help you forget but we both know that isn't going to happen tonight. You're still healing from this afternoon, both physically and emotionally. When we do make love it'll be special and not something that happens suddenly."

Veronica started crying and Logan couldn't tell if they were happy or sad tears. She looked up and saw the concern on his face. "I'm crying because I'm happy," she told him. "What you said about making our first time special is the sweetest thing you could have said."

Veronica composed herself and then continued.

"You're right about me needing time to heal before we take _that_ step," she said, "but I was serious about wanting to try new things with you. And if you'll let me I'd like to start with giving you a handjob tonight."

Logan could see that she was being honest and from the smile on her face she wasn't scared to see him naked.

"You wanna try second base?" Logan asked.

"Yeah," she said still smiling at him.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yes," Veronica said.

"Why don't we start with kissing again," he said, "and see where it goes from there."

He let go of her and moved to lay on the bed, securing his towel as he did so. Veronica followed and crawled up his body. She let her hands roam up his exposed chest before snaking them behind his neck and up into his hair.

Logan leaned up and pressed his lips against her. He moved his hands down to her waist.

The kissing got intense pretty fast. And soon enough he felt Veronica's hands move from his hair over his shoulders and slowly moved down his chest to the edge of his towel. She pulled where he'd secured it and it gave way. She moved her body slightly to push it down, but never stopped kissing him.

She slowly slid her right hand in between their bodies and reached for his cock. She used her left hand to steady herself against the bed.

As soon as she touched him Logan moaned out. He'd been turned on since their previous make out session and was considerably harder now that Veronica had been grinding against him again.

The feel of her hand around him was unbelievable, but her strokes were unsure.

"Tighter," Logan moaned out, "you need to tighten your grip."

Veronica listened to what he'd said and slowly tightened her grip. She pumped her hand up and down his shaft slowly. She was unsure how fast to go, and Logan didn't seem to mind her pace too much.

A few minutes later he was moaning out for her to go faster. He was getting closer to having an orgasm and she needed to speed up her hand movement to get him off.

A little more than a minute later he was just about ready to explode. "I'm gonna come," he said, trying to warn Veronica, but she wasn't taking the hint. He reached down and pushed her up. She took the hint and moved back onto his legs, still pumping her hand up and down his shaft.

Seconds later he came. His cum mostly ended up on his stomach but some dripped down his cock and onto Veronica's hand.

"Sorry," he said after he came, "I just didn't want it to get all over you."

She released him and moved to wipe her hand off on his towel. He laid there sated and unable to move. Veronica pulled the towel from underneath him and cleaned him up before tossing it over the edge of the bed onto the floor. She moved up the bed and laid on his chest listening to the erratic beating of his heart.

She fell asleep not too long after and Logan slipped out of bed to go take a quick shower. He grabbed the dirty towel and tossed it in the hamper in the bathroom.

He was in and out in a few minutes. He slipped on his pajamas and then slid back into bed with Veronica, pulling her back in his arms. He fell asleep thinking about her and all the things they could try in the future.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Astranti - I love supportive Logan too! I think there's a fine line between what Veronica wants to do and how she's dealing with what happened. She's trying to push it out of her mind by doing new things. Logan doesn't want her to do anything she's not ready to do. They're still a long way from having sex though. Guest - Glad you liked the chapter :)

**Chapter 7**

The next morning when Veronica woke in Logan's arms was slightly awkward. It wasn't because of what they'd done the previous night. It was because Logan was flush against Veronica's back side and was currently in a state of arousal.

Veronica wasn't sure what to do and moved to slip out of his arms. Doing that woke Logan up and he pulled her back to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

Veronica wasn't sure what to say. How do you tell your boyfriend you were moving out of his grasp because of his hard-on?

"To brush my teeth," she said, coming up with a logical answer.

Once Veronica moved out of his arms and off the bed Logan moved to lay on his back. That's when he saw the sheet tented.

"Shit," Logan muttered out, realizing that his morning erection was the real reason Veronica had moved out of his grasp.

He couldn't help that he was hard when he woke up. Veronica had given him one of the best handjobs of his life the previous night. And he'd had multiple dreams about being with her throughout the night.

When Veronica came out of the bathroom a couple minutes later Logan moved to get off the bed. He needed to go relieve himself.

"Logan," Veronica said, stopping him from getting off the bed.

He sat at the end of the bed and looked back at her.

"I'm sorry you had to wake up to this," Logan said, moving to indicate his current state of arousal, "but I'd have to be dead not to wake up with one after what we did last night."

"It did freak me out a little when I first woke up," she told him. "I'm not used to you being like that."

"Yeah, well the other times we've slept together weren't after doing something sexual," he replied.

"I guess I just need to get use to it," she said. "I mean this isn't going to be the last time we sleep together."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," he said. "I mean it's not like I can really control it."

They sat there for a few seconds not saying anything.

Logan got up and moved towards the bathroom. "I'm gonna go take care of this," he said.

"You could always come back to bed and let me give you a hand," Veronica said teasingly.

"As much as I'd love to take you up on that offer," Logan said, "I don't want to risk my mom walking in on us. I mean she's pretty liberal, but I think if she _saw_ us doing something instead of just wondering if we were she'd never let you spend the night again."

"You're probably right about that," she said, "and I'd hate to stop having sleepovers. I mean there's so much more for me to learn from you."

"Yep," Logan said, moving to the doorway of the bathroom, "but those lessons will have to wait. I'm gonna take a shower. Why don't you go downstairs and get something to eat and I'll meet you in the kitchen when I'm done."

"Ok," Veronica said, moving to get off the bed.

She headed towards the bathroom and leaned up to give Logan a kiss before leaving his room.

After she left Logan finally made his way to the shower. He got under the stream of hot water and started working his hand up and down his shaft. Visions of Veronica played in his mind when he closed his eyes and it didn't take long for him to cum.

He cleaned off and got out minutes later. He put on a pair boxer-briefs, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and went downstairs to meet Veronica.

* * *

Logan and Veronica hung out in his living room watching a movie after breakfast. Lynn had stopped on her way out to the pool to see if they wanted to join her.

"No thanks Mrs. Echolls," Veronica said after Logan looked to her for the answer.

"I understand sweetie," Lynn said, figuring Veronica wasn't ready to be in a bikini so soon after what she'd gone through at the hospital.

Lilly and Casey were coming by later that afternoon to hang out. The four of them had made plans to go out to dinner and a movie. Lilly suggested changing their plans, but Veronica wanted to go out and have a normal night.

She was still a little sore, but she had medicine to help with that. Other than some mild cramping and the bleeding she was perfectly fine. She wasn't going to sit around and think about everything that had happened. She'd deal with it soon, but not today.

"So, I was thinking," Logan said after the movie they'd watched ended.

"You thinking usually leads to us getting in trouble for something," Veronica groaned, not really feeling up to getting grounded any time in the near future.

"You can't honestly tell me that the night we all hung out in the limo wasn't worth the grounding," Logan said seriously.

"You're right," she said, "but with everything that's happened lately my dad doesn't really need another reason to keep me locked up at home."

"Well then it's a good thing that I'm not thinking about something that would get you in trouble," he said smiling at her.

"Ok," Veronica said, curious to know what he was thinking, "I'll bite. What crazy plan are you thinking up?"

"It's not crazy," Logan stated. "I was just thinking with school starting soon maybe we could plan a trip and get out of Neptune for a little while."

"I doubt my dad would let me go out of town with my boyfriend," she responded.

"We won't be alone," Logan said. "I thought we could see if Casey and Lilly want to join us. I'm sure Lilly would jump at the chance to get away from here. I'm actually surprised she didn't jet out of here after Duncan's arrest."

"I think it's because she had Casey to lean on," Veronica said. "I'm sure he was there for her just like you've been for me."

"I think you're right," Logan said, "but I bet if I asked her about going out of town she'd want to pack her bag and leave as soon as possible."

"Where were you thinking of going?" Veronica asked.

"Somewhere we can relax," he said. "That's about as far as I got in the planning."

"I'm gonna call Lilly and see if her and Casey want to come over now," Veronica said. "I'm sure she can come up with a few ideas of where we could go."

Veronica got up and went up to Logan's room to get her cell phone. She called Lilly on her way back down the stairs. Lilly got really excited about planning a trip and told Veronica she and Casey would be there as soon they could.

"I really don't want to get my hopes up," Veronica said sitting back down on the sofa with Logan.

"You really think he's gonna say no?" he asked.

"My dad isn't stupid Logan," Veronica replied. "He'll assume that even though Lilly's going we'll end up sharing a room."

"Well we won't know unless we ask him," Logan said.

"I'll ask him after we make plans," she said. "He's less likely to flat out say no if we already have confirmed plans. I'm not saying he'll say yes, but he's less likely to say no."

"Confirmed plans for what?" Lynn asked coming back into the house.

Logan thought that telling her the truth might help their plans and decided to let her in on his idea.

"Why don't you come sit down," Logan suggested.

"It isn't something bad, is it?" Lynn asked

"I don't think so," Logan said, "but it could end up badly."

"Ok," Lynn said, bracing herself for whatever Logan was going to tell her, "go on."

"Well, with everything that's gone on lately," Logan said, "I was thinking it would be a good idea for Veronica and I to go away on a vacation, get out of Neptune for a little while."

"And you already made plans," Lynn said.

"Not yet," Logan told her, "but Lilly and Casey are on their way here so we can all start planning."

"So it won't just be the two of you," Lynn said, feeling a little relieved. She wasn't stupid. She knew her son had been sexually active, but she also knew there was no way he'd had sex with Veronica. After everything that poor girl had been through, Lynn wasn't sure how long it would take for her to be emotionally ready for that and she hoped that her son had enough sense to not pressure her into anything.

"Veronica thought her dad was more likely to say yes if Lilly and Casey were going too," Logan said, telling his mom the truth without actually having to tell her his original plan.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of the four of you going somewhere on your own," Lynn said, "and I'm sure Keith won't be either."

"So you let me go to Tijuana with Luke and Dick," Logan said, "but you won't let me go on a vacation with my girlfriend, her best friend, and one of my friends."

"Logan letting you go off to Mexico was a lot different from what you're talking about right now," Lynn said.

"You're right," he said, "this trip is gonna be a lot safer."

Logan moved to get off the sofa and extended his hand to Veronica to help her up. They moved to leave the living room, but Logan stopped.

"I know you don't approve of the trip because you know I'll end up sleeping with Veronica," Logan said, causing Veronica to blush, "and you're not wrong about that. But you should know we haven't had sex yet, and that whenever we decide to take that step there really isn't anything you can do to stop us."

Lynn was left there stunned. She couldn't believe how honest Logan had just been. He was right though. If the two of them were going to have sex there really wasn't much she could do to stop them. They'd find a way.

"Logan," Lynn called out as he and Veronica headed up the stairs to go to his room.

"I'll go see what she wants and meet you in my room," Logan told her.

"Come sit down for a minute," Lynn said, moving to sit on the couch and motioning for Logan to join her.

There was an awkward silence after they were seated next to each other.

"Thank you for being honest with me," Lynn said. "Not many teenage boys would tell their mom about their sex life. And to be honest, I really don't need to know about yours. I can see how much Veronica means to you and I know you want to take her out of Neptune to help her get over what happened."

Logan just nodded at his mom, unsure of what to say.

"I think I may have an idea for your trip that Keith might be more open to saying yes to," Lynn told him.

"What's the idea?" Logan asked, wondering what in the hell she'd come up with that might get Veronica's dad to agree to her going on a trip with him.

"You know I'm supposed to go meet your dad in Hawaii in two weeks," she said. "Why don't I call the hotel he's staying at and book another suite for you, Veronica, Lilly and Casey. Veronica's dad might say yes if he knows the four of you are going to fly there with me and stay at the same hotel as your father and me."

Logan was grinning.

"You'd do that for me?" Logan asked.

"Yes sweetie," she said. "I'm not going to pretend that I'm ok with you and Veronica bunking together in the suite, but I've seen the way you two are together and I know you won't pressure her to do anything she's not ready to do."

"You're right," he replied. "I won't. She's been through a lot. She was starting to deal with the rape and feel better when she ended up back in the hospital. I just think getting away from here might help her get past it."

Logan hated thinking about the rape and her having the abortion. No one should ever have to deal with that experience.

"Why don't you go up and tell Veronica about my idea," Lynn said, "and I'll call your dad to see if it's ok with him."

"If he says yes," Logan said, "do you think you could call and invite Veronica's dad over for dinner so we can all talk about it?"

"I think I can manage that," she said.

They both got up from the sofa and Logan leaned in to hug his mom before bounding up the stairs to tell Veronica his mom's idea.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Astranti - Yep, I agree! Plus, going away will give Logan and Veronica some alone time to work on their relationship and see where things are going. brankel1 - Thanks for the complement! I'm not for/against abortion, so I didn't feel bad about what I wrote. Sometimes not having one is worse than having one. I'm happy that you liked the last chapter. Jane - Glad you liked the last chapter! You're about to find out about the trip...

**Chapter 8**

_Two weeks later_

Veronica was waiting impatiently in her living room.

"Stop fidgeting so much," her dad said as he entered the room.

"I can't help it," Veronica said with a huge smile on her face, "I'm still amazed that you said yes."

"Well, Logan's mom was pretty convincing," he replied. "And it'll be good for you to get away from here for a little while."

Just then her phone went off. She pulled it out of her purse and checked the text message.

"That was Logan," she told her dad. "He said they're on their way."

"Are you sure you have everything you're going to need?" her dad asked one more time.

"Yes dad," she said motioning to her suitcase, garment bag and carryon bag sitting by the door. "I'm sure I've packed more than enough stuff for this trip."

"I guess you're right," he said, "and you can always do a load of laundry while you're there if necessary."

"Yep," Veronica replied. "I still can't believe that Mrs. Echolls decided to rent a house for all of us."

"It's part of the reason I agreed to let you go," he said. "It'll keep all of you away from the press."

Keith moved to sit next to Veronica on the sofa and pulled her into a hug. "I can't believe you're gonna be gone for the rest of the summer," he said.

"We'll be back a week before school starts," Veronica pointed out.

"I know," he said, "but you're still going to be gone for over a month."

"Oh, come on," she said, "you'll get to be a bachelor again while I'm gone. No daughter to worry about and a house all to yourself."

"I'm still going to worry about you," he said, "and I'll be calling to check in with you."

"I would expect nothing less," she said, giving him a smile.

"You packed the charger for your cell phone, right?" he asked.

"Of course I did," she told him, "but if I didn't I'm sure I could use Lilly's or Logan's phone to call you."

Just then they heard a car door close. Veronica turned around and looked out the window. There was a stretch limo parked in front of the house and the driver was moving around to open the rear passenger door.

Veronica jumped up from the couch and rushed to the front door. She opened it and saw Logan walking up the sidewalk towards her. They smiled at each other and Veronica ran from the door into his arms.

"I take it you're excited to see me," he joked.

"Maybe just a little bit," she said teasingly.

"Hello Logan," her dad said from the doorway, forcing them to break apart.

"Hi Mr. Mars," Logan said, moving to hold Veronica's hand and heading towards their front door.

The driver was right behind them, waiting to take Veronica's bags to the car. Keith helped him take the bags to the car. He wanted to talk to Lynn privately before they all left for the airport.

Lynn was standing by the door to the limo watching the kids all talk in the Mars family's front yard.

"You're sure you want to take four kids on a vacation in Hawaii?" Keith asked.

Lynn laughed. "They aren't exactly kids anymore Keith," she said, "but yes, Aaron and I are more than happy to have them stay with us. I know you're worried about Veronica, but I really think this trip will be good for her. I think Logan's been as worried about her as you've been."

"I've noticed," Keith said. He had noticed how protective Logan had been of his daughter since the rape. He wanted to dislike Logan for the simple fact that he was dating his only daughter, but he couldn't. Logan had been a rock for Veronica after the rape and he was the only person besides Lilly that she'd opened up to about everything.

Lynn saw the way he was looking at Veronica.

"She'll be fine Keith," Lynn said. "I've got a few things lined up for just us girls. And I promise I'll have Veronica call you as soon as we get settled at the house."

"Thank you for doing this Lynn," Keith said as the group of kids started heading towards the limo.

Veronica walked over to her dad to say goodbye. She couldn't believe how long she'd be away from him and she knew she'd miss him. They shared a really long hug before Keith pulled away.

"You all better get going," Keith said.

"It's not like the plane is gonna leave without us Mr. Mars," Lilly said laughing.

They were talking the Kanes' private jet to Hawaii. Jake felt it was the least they could do after everything that had happened during the summer.

"I know," he replied, "but I'm sure you all want to get to Hawaii as soon as possible."

"Oh, I know I want to," Logan said. "I can't wait to go surfing when we get there."

"You all be safe," Keith said as they all started to get back into the limo.

Keith pulled Logan aside before he could get in.

"You take good care of her," Keith said.

"I will," Logan promised.

Keith leaned in after Logan got seated. "Have fun," he said before moving back and closing the door.

He waved as the limo drove away. He hated that there was a reason for Veronica to be gone for pretty much the rest of her summer vacation, but he knew it was for the best.

* * *

_Six hours later_

They were all finally getting settled in at the house Lynn had rented. She'd made sure Veronica called her dad as soon as they'd gotten there to check in.

They were all meeting up with Logan's dad for dinner, so they decided it would be best to unpack and just relax for the rest of the afternoon.

Lilly wanted to go hang out on the beach after they figured out the sleeping arrangements.

The house was huge and had enough bedrooms for each person to have their own. The master bedroom was on the the first floor and the other four bedrooms were on the second floor. Two of the bedrooms had a shared balcony that looked out over the beach. The other two faced the driveway and also shared a balcony that ran along the length of the house.

Logan knew his mom wouldn't come upstairs to check and see where they'd all ended up. She knew that Logan and Veronica would end up in the same bed just as they had at their house back in Neptune.

The two couples decided to take up the bedrooms facing the ocean. The view was breathtaking and Logan could imagine all the nights he'd spend on the double lounge chair with Veronica just looking out into the night.

Lilly saw a hot tub in the back yard and decided that they were going in it as soon as they got back from dinner. Logan's mom was spending the night with his dad in the hotel suite, so they'd have full run of the house that night.

After everything was settled they all changed and headed downstairs. Lilly and Veronica each had a beach bag with all the necessities they'd need, except for water. They stopped in the kitchen to each get a bottle from the stocked fridge before heading out.

"Mom," Logan called out.

Lynn came into the kitchen seconds later.

"We're heading out to the beach," Logan said as soon as he saw her.

"You all have fun," she said. "I have some things I need to check on. Don't stay out there too long. We have to be ready to leave at seven."

"I'll keep track of the time Mrs. Echolls," Veronica promised.

"Thank you Veronica," Lynn said, thankful that Logan had a girlfriend who was responsible. "Now you all go have have fun on the beach."

* * *

They'd hung out on the beach relaxing for about an hour. Logan and Casey had dragged Lilly and Veronica into the ocean kicking and screaming. The girls got revenge and they all ended up splashing around in the crystal blue water for a while.

They were back in the house now. The girls decided to use one of the extra bedrooms to get dressed and figured it would be easier if they had a separate bathroom from the boys.

The guys let Veronica take a shower in their bathroom while they went downstairs to check out the liquor cabinet. They wanted to see if they'd need to make a trip to the store the next day.

Veronica and Lilly were in their room primping when the guys got back upstairs. They took turns in the shower and then went downstairs to watch TV until it was time for them to get dressed.

Veronica couldn't believe all the things she'd let Lilly convince her to get for the trip. Lilly had insisted that her parents were going to buy Veronica a whole new wardrobe to take to Hawaii. Among the items they'd bought were a few jaw dropping bikinis and a stunning cocktail dress that she'd be wearing to dinner tonight. They were meeting Logan's dad at the restaurant at his hotel for a fancy dinner.

Veronica had always been in love with the color pink, but the clothes she bought in that color were usually a pale shade. Somehow she'd let Lilly convince her to get a strapless, knee length, frilly, hot pink dress. It was a gorgeous dress, but Veronica felt out of her comfort zone in it. Lilly assured her she looked drop dead sexy in it with the strappy silver heels she'd bought too.

Lilly had decided on a black dress that was slightly longer than her knees, but didn't have a back. She had on strappy black heels with a platform that would make her close to Casey's height.

The guys had dressed in their suits and were waiting for Lilly, Veronica and Logan's mom.

Lynn had been the first of the women to join the guys in the living room.

"The limo's gonna be here soon," Lynn said as she entered the room. "Do you two know if Lilly and Veronica are ready?"

"Veronica told us they were just doing some last minute touch-ups when we headed down here," Logan said.

"You look hot Mrs. Echolls," Casey told her after noticing the floor length dress she was wearing with a slit almost all the way up her right thigh.

"Thank you Casey," Lynn said smiling at his comment about her dress.

"Wow," Logan said as soon as he saw Veronica. He got off the sofa and walked over to her. He took her hand and spun her around. "You look hot in that dress and those heels," he told her after leaning in close to her ear, "I can't wait to help you out of that dress later tonight."

Veronica blushed at his what he'd said.

Just then there was a knock at the front door.

"Time to head out," Lynn said, heading towards the door.

* * *

"I can't wait to get out of these heels," Veronica said as they entered the house late that night. It turned out that they weren't just going to dinner with Logan's dad. They'd ended up going to a party that was thrown by the studio Aaron was currently filming a movie for and Veronica's feet were currently aching.

"I can't wait to help you out of that dress," Logan said, with a hint of seduction in his voice.

"I guess that means it'll just be me and Casey taking advantage of the hot tub tonight," Lilly said smiling.

"No way," Veronica said. "I want to go relax in the hot tub and soothe my aching muscles."

"How about we meet outside in an hour," Casey said, "that way we all have a chance to change and do whatever else before hanging out."

"Fine," Logan said. "Casey and I need to go put the champagne in the fridge. We'll meet you two upstairs."

"I still can't believe you managed to swipe four bottles," Veronica said.

"I didn't have to swipe it," Logan said smirking. "It was given to me."

"Who would willingly give a sixteen year old that much alcohol?" Veronica asked.

"My dad's assistant," he told her. "She's always done stuff like this for me."

"Guess that explains your high tolerance for alcohol," Veronica said heading off towards the stairs with Lilly on her heels.

"So," Lilly said as they made their way up the stairs, "are you and Logan gonna take the next step in your relationship while you're here?"

"I don't know," Veronica said honestly. "We've talked about it, but Logan doesn't want me to feel like we have to do it."

"Well, if you aren't ready to have sex," Lilly replied, "you should at least take it past making out."

"How do you know we haven't?" Veronica asked, smiling at her best friend.

She was getting ready to head into her room when Lilly stopped her.

"How far _have_ you gone?" she asked.

"We've done stuff," Veronica said, not really sure she wanted to be talking about the sexual stuff she'd done with Logan. He was after all Lilly's ex-boyfriend.

"What kind of stuff?" Lilly pressed on.

"Stuff that involved us being naked," Veronica said.

"You know," Lilly said, "if you haven't already let him, you should really let Logan show you what he can do with his mouth."

"What about my mouth?" Logan asked as he and Casey made it to the hallway by their rooms.

"I was just telling Veronica that you can do amazing things with it," Lilly said smiling at him.

Veronica started blushing knowing exactly what Lilly was talking about. Logan wanted to go down on her, but she hadn't felt comfortable. She hadn't been ready to take the next step, but maybe Lilly was right and she should see what Logan could do.

"Come on Casey," Lilly said grabbing his arm. "Let's leave these two alone so they can go experience new things."

"What the hell was Lilly talking about?" Logan asked as Veronica moved to enter their bedroom.

Veronica moved to sit on the bed as Logan closed the door. She didn't say anything so Logan moved to sit beside her.

"She basically told me I should let you go down on me because you can apparently do amazing things with your mouth," Veronica finally told him.

Logan looked over at Veronica.

"Lilly really needs to learn to keep her thoughts on our sex life to herself," Logan said with a slight edge to his voice.

"She was just trying to help," Veronica said. "It's not like it's some secret that I've been sexually closed off since everything happened. And you've been good about not pressuring me. She was just telling me that maybe I should open up more. She didn't know we'd gone past making out."

"She still shouldn't have said anything," Logan pointed out. "I know it must feel weird having your best friend tell you how good your boyfriend is at going down because she's been on the receiving end of it."

"It's not like I didn't know about you," Veronica said. "I mean when you and Lilly were dating she told me a few things. I knew you two had sex. I mean the two of you were all over each other."

"I don't even want to think about what she told you," Logan said hanging his head.

He'd done a lot of things with Lilly that he'd just assume Veronica never hear about. Things with Lilly had been intense. They'd had sex numerous times when they were dating, but he'd never once made love to Lilly. He wanted to make love with Veronica, but he was going to let her take the lead when it came to their sexual relationship.

Veronica leaned over and took her shoes off. She moved to put them back in her bag and then stood with her back to Logan. "Can you unzip me?" she asked, moving her hair out of the way.

Logan stood up and slowly pulled the zipper down her back. He leaned in and kissed on her neck as his hand moved down.

Veronica moved away from him and slowly slid the dress down her leg and stepped out of it. She walked over to the closet to hang it up and Logan just stood there taking in the sight of her in a strapless black bra and lace hiphuggers that left little to the imagination.

After she got the dress situated she turned back around to face him. She'd been shy around him even though they'd seen each other naked a few times.

"I think I might want to take Lilly's advice," Veronica said, standing there with her arms at her sides, "I mean you've wanted to do it before but I wasn't ready. I think I'm ready now though."

"Veronica we really don't have to do anything," Logan said. "We can just put on our swim suits and go down to the hot tub now."

"Are you saying you don't want to do it anymore?" she asked, worried that he'd changed his mind.

"No, what I'm saying is we don't have to do it tonight," he responded. "I don't want you to feel like we have to do anything."

"I don't," she said, moving closer to him. "I want you to do it. I'm ready to take that next step. I've been thinking about it a lot and I really want to go further in our relationship. I'm finally getting to the point where sex doesn't scare me and that's because you've been so patient with me."

She circled her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Things got heated pretty fast and Veronica was pushing him towards the bed. When his knees hit the edge he lifted her up, turned around and laid her down.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Logan asked after he stood back up.

"I'm sure," Veronica said, moving further up on the bed.

She situated herself on the pillows and waited for Logan to take his suit off and join her. He worked fast to unbutton his shirt and toss it on the floor. She watched with lust in her eyes as he unbuckled his belt and unhooked his pants. They slid to the ground and he was left standing there in a pair of black boxer-briefs.

He just stood there for a minute looking at her. No words were said as he moved to the bed. He slowly moved towards her and hovered over her for a few seconds before leaning in to kiss her.

He had his knees situated on either side of her body and was using his arms to keep him from crushing her. Before their kiss could intensify too much, he started kissing down her neck to the spot that always made her moan. He didn't want to give her a hickey, but he loved the sounds she made when he sucked on her pulse point and it made him want to keep his lips there.

He forced himself to move his lips from that point and further down her body. As he kissed his way down, he slipped his arms behind her to unhook her bra and pull it from in between their bodies.

He kissed his way to her right breast and took his time kissing around it before moving in to lick and then suck on her nipple. After he felt like he'd spent enough time on it he kissed his way to her left one and lavished it with the same attention.

Once he was sure Veronica had felt enough pleasure up there he kissed his way down her body, stopping at the top of her panties. He slowly slid his hands under her ass and moved his fingers to the top of them. He gradually slipped them over her ass. He moved down the bed as he slid them down her legs. He stepped off the bed when they reached her feet and pulled them off, tossing them on the floor with the rest of their clothes.

He moved back on the bed, slowly running his hands along Veronica's legs as he did. When he reached her thighs he moved to push them apart.

"Put your feet flat on the bed," he told her.

She did what he'd said, but felt a little uncomfortable.

He looked in her eyes before going any further and could see she was nervous.

"We really don't have to do this if you're uncomfortable," Logan said, unsure of what would happen next.

"I'm just nervous," she explained. "I want you to do it, but I'm scared because I don't know what it'll feel like."

"I have a feeling you're gonna like it," Logan said, "but if you don't just tell me and I'll stop."

"Ok," Veronica said. "I love you and I love that you're so patient with me."

"I love you too," he said moving up the bed to kiss her.

He moved back down the bed and laid on his stomach. He kissed his way up her left thigh and then moved in to slowly lick up the seam of her lips. He used his fingers to open her up to him and licked up until he reached her clit.

Veronica nearly jumped when his tongue first touched her clit. The feeling was overpowering and she did slightly move up from the mattress. She grabbed one of the pillows she was laying on as Logan continued.

She was moaning out in pleasure and her body was writhing on the bed. Logan had to grab her hips to make her stop moving so much.

She wasn't sure how long Logan was down there, but she could feel the changes in her body. The feeling of Logan's tongue on her clit was beginning to be too much and she knew she was on the verge of having an orgasm.

When the orgasm hit her she pleaded with Logan to stop. The sensation was too much to handle and she was sure she couldn't take anymore.

He slowly decreased his pace on her clit and then moved his tongue down to lap at the juices flowing from her. When he was done he moved out from in between her legs and off the bed. He went in the bathroom, grabbed a towel and wiped his mouth off as he headed back to the bed.

He moved to lay down next to Veronica. He reached down to clean up the mess between her legs. He tossed the towel on the floor and then pulled her to lay on his chest.

"That was amazing," Veronica said. Her voice was low and Logan could hear her labored breathing that was a result of the massive orgasm he'd given her.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Logan said smiling down at her.

They laid there for a little while before getting up to put on their swim suits to go meet up with Casey and Lilly.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Astranti - I don't plan on their being any major issues on the trip, but I haven't finished writing yet... brankel1 - Thanks! From the reviews I've gotten I think pretty much everyone likes them as a couple in this story :)

**Chapter 9**

"I see you started the party without us," Logan said as he and Veronica made their way to the hot tub.

"It's more like Casey and I just continued partying while the two of you did whatever upstairs," Lilly said.

Veronica blushed at Lilly's comment and she noticed.

"Why don't you two grab a glass of champagne and get your asses in here," Lilly said smiling at the two of them.

Logan helped Veronica into the hot tub, grabbed two glasses and got in. He filled them up and handed one to Veronica.

"We should play a game," Lilly said a few minutes later after the silence got to be too much.

"What do you have in mind?" Veronica asked, even though she wasn't sure she'd want to play any game Lilly came up with at that point.

"How about truth or dare," she said. "You can't really go wrong with a classic."

Veronica was hesitant to say yes and Logan could tell.

"How about 'I never…' instead," Logan suggested. He figured there wasn't anything sexual Lilly could goad Veronica about in that game.

"Fine," Lilly said, not really caring what they played. She just wanted to do something.

"I'll go first," Logan said. "I never played soccer."

Veronica and Casey both took a sip from their champagne glasses.

"You can go Casey," Veronica said. She wasn't sure what to say, so she'd just assume wait as long as possible to have a turn.

"I never made out on a first date," Casey said.

Lilly took a sip of her champagne.

"I never fooled around with an extra on a movie set," Lilly said, with a big smile on her face.

"You are so dead," Logan said after taking a sip from his glass.

"I never walked in on my parents having sex," Logan said.

Lilly took another sip of her champagne.

"Lilly!" Veronica exclaimed.

"What? I went in their room to borrow my mom's diamond earrings and they were on the bed," Lilly said. "Mom was on top and yawned like she wasn't really into it."

"I can't believe you stayed long enough to see that," Veronica said. She'd have run from the room the moment she saw them in there.

"Ok, my turn again," Lilly said. "I never had sex in the boys locker room."

Casey took a sip from his glass.

"How did you know about that?" he asked Lilly.

"Darcy has a big mouth," Lilly said, "especially when she's drunk."

"Wow dude," Logan said, "I didn't know Darcy was such an exhibitionist."

"No one else was there," Casey said. "It was after tennis practice and everyone else had gone home."

"You weren't afraid you'd get caught?" Veronica asked.

"I didn't really think about it," Casey said. "Darcy came in after I'd finished my shower in just her towel."

"I can't believe Darcy did that," Veronica said.

"Can we get back to the game," Lilly said.

"Yeah," Casey said, "umm I never had a facial."

Lilly, Veronica, and surprisingly Logan all took a sip of champagne.

"What?" Logan said when everyone looked at him in shock. "I'm secure enough in my masculinity to admit that I've gone to a spa."

Lilly burst out laughing. "I'm picturing you sitting in one of those chairs having a pedicure and a facial in a robe," she said before continuing to laugh.

Veronica and Casey laughed at that. Logan glared at Lilly.

"I think it's Veronica's turn," he said, wanting to get back to the game.

"Umm," Veronica said pausing to think of something to say, "I never went skinny dipping."

Lilly, Casey and Logan all took a sip of their champagne.

"I think we should rectify that right now," Lilly said, moving to get out of the hot tub.

"Lilly!" Veronica shrieked.

"What? It's dark on the beach and no one else is around," she pointed out.

"I'll go with you," Logan offered Veronica.

Lilly moved to grab all their towels to take out on the beach.

"Come on Casey," Lilly said as she started making her way to the beach.

Casey got up, got out and went to follow Lilly, leaving Veronica and Logan alone.

"You don't have to do it," Logan said, "I think Lilly was just looking for an excuse to get naked."

Veronica laughed even though she knew Logan was probably right.

"We can go," Veronica said, "Lilly's right. There's no one else around and you really can't see out there."

She got up and stepped out of the hot tub. She stood beside it and waited for Logan to get out. He reached for her hand once he was out and they headed out to the beach.

Lilly and Casey had already stripped and were in the ocean. They were just far enough out that the water covered their bodies.

"You ready?" Logan asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said, dropping his hand and moving to untie her top.

Logan stripped off his board shorts and waited for Veronica to finish undressing. His eyes stayed on the ocean, not wanting Veronica to feel any more uncomfortable than she already was.

"Let's go," Veronica said, grabbing Logan's hand.

"Took you two long enough," Lilly said once they waded out to where she was with Casey.

"Not everyone is as comfortable being naked around other people as you are," Logan snapped at her.

"Stop being so snippy Logan," Lilly replied.

Logan just glared at her. He reached for Veronica's hand and pulled her closer to him.

"It feels nice out here," Veronica said, trying to lighten the mood. "I thought the water would be colder for some reason."

"Aren't you glad I talked you into coming out here?" Lilly asked, smiling at her.

"Yeah, I am," Veronica replied.

They didn't stay out there very long. They dried off and gathered up their swimsuits.

"I think we're gonna head up to our room," Casey said as the group neared the house.

"Ok, I guess we'll see you in the morning some time," Veronica said.

Lilly and Casey disappeared inside leaving Logan and Veronica on the back porch.

"What do you want to do now?" Logan asked.

"I want to stay out here," she said. "Wanna lay with me on a lounge chair?"

"Of course," Logan said dropping his board shorts on the deck.

He moved towards one of the lounge chairs and got himself situated. Veronica threw her bikini with Logan's board shorts and climbed on the chair with him. Logan pulled her into his arms and she laid her head on his chest.

"This is nice," he said a few minutes later.

"Yeah, it's so peaceful out here," Veronica stated.

"I was talking about having you in my arms," he remarked.

"That's nice too," Veronica said moving her head to look up at him.

He was smiling at her and when she moved her head he leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't a lingering kiss, because Logan was sure if they started making out it would lead to other things. And he didn't think he'd be able to control himself enough to stop.

They laid out there for close to an hour before finally getting up. They grabbed their suits and headed back inside.

Logan locked up and they headed up to their room.

When they got to their room Veronica slipped the towel from her body, wrapped her suit in it and tossed it in bathroom. She moved to the bed and pulled back the covers. She didn't bother putting on any night clothes before getting in and pulling the sheet up to cover her body.

Logan followed suit and soon enough he was in their bed pulling her to him. She laid her head on his chest and fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Astranti - I like that they're having a good time too. Logan and Veronica may have to revisit that whole skinny dipping thing when it's just the two of them ;) brankel1 - They needed fun after what they went through back home!

**Chapter 10**

The next day the girls spent the morning lounging on the beach while the guys went surfing. In the afternoon they went shopping and had lunch with Logan's mom. She'd arranged a spa afternoon for the girls at the hotel.

Logan was bummed that he wouldn't get to spend the afternoon lounging around with Veronica.

Lynn was having them dropped off in the early evening so the four of them could go out to dinner. They had a sunset cruise set up for that night.

Veronica made sure to call her dad when she and Lilly had lunch with Logan's mom so he could talk to Lynn too.

She assured Keith that Veronica was fine. She told him they were going out on a boat all the next day and had dinner plans that would keep them out late. She made sure Keith knew she'd be on the set with Aaron a lot during their trip, so she wouldn't always be around when Veronica called him.

While she trusted the kids at the house, she didn't intend to spend her entire trip at the hotel. It was true that she had plans to visit Aaron on set a few days while she was there, but the days he was shooting long hours she planned to stay at the house. She made sure the kids knew they weren't going to be left alone the entire time they were in Hawaii.

* * *

When Lilly and Veronica got back to the house the guys weren't there. They headed upstairs to put their new purchases in their rooms and then changed into their bikinis to go lay out for a while.

They were laying out on the lounge chairs when they heard the guys in the kitchen.

"You two went grocery shopping?" Veronica said after she and Lilly entered the kitchen.

"I hope you bought more than just booze and junk food," Lilly said, moving to search through the bags on the counter. "Color me impressed," she said as she started emptying a bag full of produce.

"We bought stuff so we could have a few dinners here instead of going out every night," Logan said.

"You know how to cook?" Lilly asked suspiciously.

"I know how to grill," Logan said smirking at her.

"I can cook," Veronica pipped up. "I can look up some recipes online."

"Well look at you two being all domestic," Lilly said, genuinely smiling at Logan and Veronica.

"We really need to start getting ready for dinner," Lilly said, dragging Veronica from the kitchen. "Have fun putting the rest of that stuff away."

The girls went upstairs and took showers. When Veronica exited the boys' bathroom into the room she shared with Logan, she found him laying on the bed reading.

"Have a nice shower?" he asked looking up from his book.

"Yeah," she said. "It's all yours now."

She moved over to their closet to figure out what she was going to wear that night.

"What's the dress code for tonight?" Veronica asked turning back to look at Logan.

"Since it's just gonna be the four of us," Logan said, "I don't think it matters what you wear."

"I somehow don't think Lilly will feel the same way," Veronica said. "I'll be back."

She left to go find Lilly. She was pretty sure none of them were going to be wearing casual clothing for the cruise. It was going to be a romantic sunset cruise and candlelit dinner, but she wasn't sure how dressy to get for it.

"Lil," Veronica called out as she entered their dressing bedroom. She didn't get a response and didn't hear the shower running so she figured Lilly must've gone to pick out something to wear.

Veronica walked over to the room she was sharing with Casey and was just about to knock when she heard moaning. She decided it was best to just walk away and try to pick out what to wear on her own. If she waited for Lilly to help her she wouldn't be ready in time.

"So, what did Lilly tell you to wear?" Logan asked as Veronica entered their room.

"Nothing," Veronica said moving back to the closet.

"I'm surprised," Logan said smiling at her, "but I don't really think you're an exhibitionist. That's more Lilly's thing."

"Well, I didn't exactly get a chance to ask her," Veronica said moving towards the bed, still wrapped in the towel from her shower. "Lilly was preoccupied and I didn't want to interrupt for fashion advice."

Logan laughed at that. Lilly sure didn't waste time when it came to sex. He wouldn't be surprised to find her and Casey going at it in the shower before long.

"It's not funny," Veronica said, giving him a glare. "I so did not need to hear the two of them having sex."

"Well, you need to get over that," Logan said moving off the bed and towards her. "This house isn't very soundproof and I doubt Lilly is gonna give up sex for the rest of the time we're here."

He reached out to wrap his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. He kissed her and then pulled back to look in her eyes.

"Besides I'm pretty sure Lilly and Casey heard you moaning when I went down on you," Logan told her.

Veronica slapped him on the shoulder. "Logan!" she exclaimed in an exasperated tone.

"I can't help it that you moaned loudly," he said smiling down at her. "It just means I was doing a really good job."

Veronica looked down, a blush had formed on her cheeks and she couldn't look him in the eyes after he said that. It was true, but it was difficult for her to tell him just how much she'd enjoyed what he did to her.

Logan placed the index finger of his right hand under her chin and moved her face so he could look in her eyes.

"There is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed or shy about," Logan told her in a gentle tone. "You are amazing and I love you."

He leaned in and kissed her softly pulling her in closer with his right arm and moving his left hand up into her hair.

Veronica got lost in the kiss and let Logan maneuver them over to the bed. But when his hands moved under her towel she pulled back.

"Logan stop," she said. "Go take your shower."

Logan groaned as he moved away from her. He wasn't about to push her to do anything she didn't want. He'd told her that numerous times already and wasn't about to go back on his word.

He kissed her one last time on her forehead and then went to take his shower.

* * *

Veronica was lounging on their bed in her robe when Logan came out of the bathroom.

"I thought you'd be in the other room getting dressed with Lilly," Logan said.

"I wanted to talk to you first," she told him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Logan asked moving to grab a pair of boxer-briefs. He dropped his towel and put them on before turning to face Veronica.

"When I stopped you," she said, "it wasn't because I didn't want to keep going. I really did, but I knew we'd get wrapped up and be late getting ready."

"You're right," Logan said, moving to sit on the bed next to her, "I like taking my time with you."

He smiled that sexy smile of his and Veronica felt her heart melt.

"Ok, well I'm gonna go get ready now," Veronica said. She leaned over and kissed Logan before slipping off the bed.

* * *

An hour later they were on their way to the boat.

"Wow," Veronica said when she caught her first glimpse of the boat. It was a yacht and way bigger than they needed for just the four of them.

"It's my dad's boat," Logan told her. "He had someone drive it over so he'd have it while he's filming."

Veronica was amazed. When she'd dated Duncan the four of them usually went out on the Kanes' yacht. She'd never seen the Echolls' boat, but it rivaled the Kanes'.

"It's stunning," Veronica said as they made their way to the boat.

When they boarded they headed to the rear and up a set of stairs. There was a table set for the four of them up there.

"I'm gonna go check with the caterers and make sure everything's ready," Logan said.

He came back a few minutes later with a tray in his hands and was followed by someone carrying a tray with champagne glasses. Logan put the tray, which was covered in fruits and cheese, on the table. The woman who'd followed him out on the deck placed the tray of glasses on the table and handed each of us a glass.

"Thank you," Logan said. "You all did a wonderful job with dinner."

He took out his wallet and pulled out some cash. He handed it to the woman and she turned to leave. A few minutes later she exited the boat followed by two other people.

"Are we ready to cast off?" a man asked a minute later. I assumed he was the captain for the evening.

"Yeah," Logan told him and he turned to leave. "Why don't we go sit on the benches at the front of the boat," Logan suggested. He led the way and we got situated while the captain made his way back to the wheel.

They were out on the water in no time. The captain drove the boat out into the ocean and anchored it about thirty minutes later. Everyone stayed on the benches watching the sun set and drinking champagne. Lilly had gone through her glass long before they'd anchored and had sent Logan to get the rest of the bottle from the kitchen. He brought a stack of plates up too so they could each fix a plate from the tray of food he'd brought up earlier.

Everyone gathered around the table and fixed a plate snacks and they all refilled their glasses with champagne. They all went back to the benches to hang out.

"Logan," Lilly said to get his attention.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Are those spare bathing suits still in the dresser in your room downstairs?" Lilly asked.

"I think so," Logan told her. "Why?" he asked.

"I was thinking we could all go for a little moonlight swim tonight," she explained.

"I think I'd rather wait until we get back to the house to go for a swim," Veronica said. She really didn't want to be in the middle of the ocean at night. It made her think of Jaws and she wasn't really interested in being in water when she couldn't see what was around her.

"We're coming back out on the boat tomorrow," Logan said. "We can swim all afternoon."

"I know," Lilly said, "but I thought it would be nice for the four of us to have a little moonlit swim out here tonight."

"The moon will still be out when we get back to the house," Logan told her pulling Veronica back into his arms.

"Why don't you go cuddle up with Casey and chill out," Veronica said. "We came out here to enjoy the time alone on the boat, away from everyone."

Lilly gave up and decided to relax with Casey.

"You know," Lilly said, "we could continue our game of 'I never…' from the other night."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Logan said.

"Why? It's just a way for all of us to get to know each other better," Lilly said.

"If there's something you want to know, just ask," Logan told her. He didn't want to play any more games, especially after the secrets that had been revealed the last time they played.

"Fine," Lilly said. "I asked Veronica earlier how far the two of you have gone, but she was vague. Then you walked up and ended that little conversation."

"Did you ever think that maybe she was vague because you don't need to know about her sex life," Logan said getting angry at Lilly.

"I was just asking because I was concerned," Lilly said. "I mean we all know you've been around the block. I just wanted to make sure you weren't pushing Veronica to do things she isn't ready for, especially after everything she's been through the past few months."

"Logan would never pressure me Lilly," Veronica said butting into the conversation. "Did you forget that he was the one who found me and brought me to the hospital? He knows exactly what happened and has been helping me get through it."

"Umm I get the feeling that I missing something here," Casey said interrupting the conversation. "I also get the feeling that whatever it is Veronica doesn't want to talk about it anymore Lilly, so why don't you drop it."

"I just wanted to know that Logan was taking care of you," Lilly told her best friend.

"He is," Veronica assured her. "We haven't had sex and we probably won't for a while. I'm not ready for that yet and Logan gets that. Now that you know, I'd just assume never talk about what happened again. I don't like thinking about it."

"I'm sorry," Lilly said sounding truly apologetic.

"Thanks," Veronica said.

"Ok, I know that I told Lilly to drop it and you said you don't want to talk about it," Casey said, "but from the way you were talking I think I figured out what you were talking about. I promise not to tell anyone if it is what I'm thinking. Were you raped?"

Veronica was shocked to hear Casey ask her that. She didn't think he really knew until the words were out of his mouth.

"Yeah," Veronica answered fighting back tears.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Casey said with a sympathetic look on his face. "We don't have to talk about it. I just wanted to know if that was what had happened."

Veronica huddled into Logan's arms and he held her as she cried.

* * *

They ate dinner in mostly silence. Veronica decided to break the silence and tell Casey some of the story.

"That day at Logan's house, when you drove me to the hospital," Veronica said getting everyone's attention, but looking at Casey, "that was part of the aftermath of the rape. Not a lot of people know what happened or who did it, and as much as I don't like to talk about it I'm beginning to think maybe talking about it will help me."

"You really don't have to tell me anything," Casey told her.

"I want to," Veronica said. "I was ashamed of what happened because I thought it was my fault, but it wasn't. I'm not sure if Lilly told you why Duncan hasn't been around…"

"I just assumed he was at a summer camp or something," Casey said.

"He's in a mental institution," Veronica told him. "The DA made a deal with him after he was brought in for raping me."

Casey was shocked to hear that Duncan had raped her. Duncan had been so in love with Veronica and Casey couldn't picture him doing that to her.

"That day at the hospital," Veronica continued, "was me having to deal with the fact that Duncan didn't use a condom and I got pregnant. I ended up having an abortion."

"Wow," Casey said when she was finished. "No wonder you wanted to get away from Neptune for the rest of the summer."

"That was Logan's idea," Veronica told him. "He found me and brought me to the hospital the night Duncan raped me and has been by my side ever since. He's been helping me deal with what happened."

"I figured it would be a good idea to get away for a while before we go back to school," Logan said. "No one knows what happened, but I'm sure people will be speculating why Duncan isn't at school when classes start."

"How long will Duncan be in the mental institution?" Casey asked. He wasn't sure that was the right question to ask, but he was curious if Duncan would be returning to school at all during the year.

"Six months," Veronica told him. "He'll be released into his parents care, but I'm not sure whether he'll end up back at school or not."

"Whatever happens," Lilly said, "we'll all be there for you."

"Thanks," Veronica said.

Things got quiet, so Logan suggested they start heading back. They had a long day planned the next day, so they all needed a good nights sleep. They'd be back on the boat the next morning so no one objected to Logan's suggestion.

The four of them were silent as they head back to the club where the boat was being kept. The two couples cuddled up on separate benches and just stared up at the stars during the ride back.

* * *

**A/N: **So, this is the last chapter I have written. I've been trying to work on this, but I can't seem to come up with ideas for where I want to go next. I have long term ideas but need something to inspire me to get to that point. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done since so many of you have this story on alert. I'm not giving up on this though!


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